On April 8, 2024 Immunitas Therapeutics ("Immunitas"), a clinical stage precision immunotherapy company committed to discovering and developing novel, differentiated therapeutics for patients with cancer, reported preclinical data supporting the combination potential of IMT-009 with anti-PD1 immunotherapy at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting (AACR 2024) in San Diego, California (Press release, Immunitas Therapeutics, APR 8, 2024, View Source [SID1234641891]).

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"The need for new immuno-oncology approaches persists, with a significant proportion of patients unable to benefit from standard of care PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockade treatment due to primary and acquired resistance. This need has fueled our work to develop IMT-009 as a differentiated cancer treatment option for patients," said Annalisa D’Andrea, Chief Scientific Officer at Immunitas. "The preclinical data presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) build upon this innovation, supporting potential for clinical benefit through combination approaches featuring IMT-009 and anti-PD-1 treatments."

Novel, anti-CD161 antibody IMT-009 has been shown to restore the anti-cancer activity of T and NK cells in preclinical studies by blocking interactions between CD161 and its ligand, CLEC2D, and is currently undergoing clinical evaluation for use in solid tumor and hematologic malignancies.

The data presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2024 build upon these preclinical data, reinforcing CD161 as a rational immunotherapy target with the potential to enhance T cell-mediated anti-tumor activity across a range of tumors. Single cell RNA sequencing analysis of published tumor datasets demonstrated the presence of CD161 expressing T cells in patients who have previously progressed on, or are refractory to, anti-PD-(L)1 therapy, indicating potential for benefit from treatment with IMT-009 as monotherapy or in combination with anti-PD-(L)1 therapy. In cancer cell models, combination of IMT-009 and anti-PD1 treatment significantly enhanced T cell mediated tumor killing. Transcriptomic changes upon treatment with IMT-009 also show robust T cell activation and cytotoxicity gene signatures which are further enriched in combination with anti-PD1 treatment. Together these data support clinical assessment of IMT-009 treatment in combination with anti-PD-(L)1 approaches in patients refractory to anti-PD-(L)1 treatment alone.

Presentation Details for AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) 2024
Title: Abundance of KLRB1+ (CD161) T cells in anti-PD1 non responders coupled with enhanced tumor cytotoxicity of anti-CD161 (IMT-009) with anti-PD1 makes it a rational target for combination with anti-PD-(L)1 immunotherapy
Abstract Number: 1375
Date/Time: Monday, April 8, 2024, 9:00am – 12:30pm PT

About IMT-009
IMT-009 is a fully human, Fc-attenuated IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds to CD161 and blocks its interaction with its ligand, CLEC2D. Preclinical data confirm that CD161 blockade with IMT-009 results in enhanced anti-tumor activity. IMT-009 is under evaluation in a Phase 1/2a clinical trial for use as a monotherapy and combination treatment for solid tumor and hematological malignancies. The Phase 1 study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacodynamic biomarkers, and preliminary efficacy of IMT-009 as well as identify the Recommended Phase 2 Dose (RP2D).