On August 22, 2022 Cue Biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: CUE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of injectable biologics to selectively engage and modulate tumor-specific T cells directly within the patient’s body, reported that it has dosed the first patient in a Phase 1 dose escalation study evaluating CUE-102, its second clinical drug candidate from the CUE-100 series of interleukin 2 (IL-2)-based biologics, as a monotherapy for the treatment of patients with Wilms’ Tumor 1 (WT1)-positive recurrent/metastatic cancers (Press release, Cue Biopharma, AUG 22, 2022, View Source [SID1234618546]). The study will initially focus on colorectal, gastric, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers.

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"Initiating this Phase 1 clinical study of CUE-102 at a starting dose of 1mg/kg, a clinically active dose in our Phase 1 CUE-101 clinical trial for HPV+ head and neck cancer, is an important step forward in demonstrating the modularity of our Immuno-STAT platform and the broader clinical potential of our CUE-100 series of biologics," said Dan Passeri, chief executive officer of Cue Biopharma. "We believe, given the preservation of the core molecular framework between CUE-102 and CUE-101 with the primary exception of the tumor-specific epitope, initiating the dose escalation trial at 1 mg/kg will result in reduced time and cost to evaluate tolerability at therapeutically active doses."

Ken Pienta, M.D., acting chief medical officer of Cue Biopharma, added, "CUE-102 has the potential to activate the patient’s immune system against numerous WT1-expressing cancers, including solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, and has demonstrated selective and significant activation of WT1-specific T cells in preclinical studies. We believe that CUE-102 can play an important role in changing the treatment landscape for patients with WT1-positive cancers, by potentially delivering higher efficacy and lower toxicities than current available treatments."

WT1 is a well-recognized onco-fetal protein that is known to be over-expressed in several cancers, including solid tumors and hematologic malignancies such as gastric, glioblastoma, pancreatic, ovarian, endometrial, breast, lung, colorectal and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Patients with WT1-expressing cancers, and those with recurrent metastatic disease, represent an important unmet clinical need and underscore the opportunity for this promising new therapeutic.

About the CUE-102 Clinical Trial
The trial (NCT05360680) is a multi-center, open-label, Phase 1 dose escalation and expansion study evaluating the safety, tolerability, anti-tumor activity, and immunogenicity of CUE-102 in HLA-A*0201 positive patients with WT1-positive recurrent/metastatic cancers who have failed conventional therapies. The study is designed to enroll approximately 50 patients.

About CUE-102
Leveraging the Immuno-STAT (Selective Targeting and Alteration of T cells) platform of targeted interleukin 2 (IL-2) therapies and the ongoing development of the CUE-100 series including CUE-102 being developed as a novel therapeutic fusion protein to selectively activate tumor antigen-specific T cells to treat Wilms’ Tumor 1 (WT1)-expressing cancers. CUE-102 consists of two human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules presenting a WT1 peptide, four affinity-attenuated IL-2 molecules, and an effector attenuated human immunoglobulin G (IgG1) Fc domain. WT1 is a well-recognized onco-fetal protein known to be over-expressed in several cancers, including solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

About the CUE-100 Series
The CUE-100 series consists of Fc-fusion biologics that incorporate peptide-MHC (pMHC) molecules along with rationally engineered IL-2 molecules. This singular biologic is anticipated to selectively target, activate and expand a robust repertoire of tumor-specific T cells directly in the patient’s body. The binding affinity of IL-2 for its receptor has been deliberately attenuated to achieve preferential selective activation of tumor-specific effector T cells while reducing the potential for effects on regulatory T cells (Tregs) or broad systemic activation, potentially mitigating the dose-limiting toxicities associated with current IL-2-based therapies.

About Immuno-STAT
The company’s Immuno-STAT (Selective Targeting and Alteration of T cells) platform biologics are designed for targeted modulation of disease-associated T cells in the areas of immuno-oncology and autoimmune disease. Each of our biologic drugs is designed using our proprietary scaffold comprising: 1) a peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) to provide selectivity through interaction with the T cell receptor (TCR), and 2) a unique co-stimulatory signaling molecule to modulate the activity of the target T cells.

The simultaneous engagement of co-regulatory molecules and pMHC binding mimics the signals delivered by antigen presenting cells (APCs) to T cells during a natural immune response. This design enables Immuno-STAT biologics to engage with the T cell population of interest, resulting in selective T cell modulation. Because our drug candidates are delivered directly in the patient’s body (in vivo), they are fundamentally different from other T cell therapeutic approaches that require the patients’ T cells to be extracted, modified outside the body (ex vivo) and reinfused.