On September 10, 2022 Wugen, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of off-the-shelf cell therapies to treat a broad range of hematological and solid tumor malignancies, reported that preclinical data on WU-NK-101, the company’s lead memory natural killer (NK) cell therapy product, in a poster session at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) (Free ESMO Whitepaper) Congress 2022, taking place in Paris, France from September 9-13, 2022 (Press release, Wugen, SEP 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234619362]).

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"We are pleased to present these data and build on the growing body of evidence validating our best-in-class memory NK cell platform," said Dan Kemp, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Wugen. "Today’s findings are an important step forward as we continue to advance WU-NK-101 into clinical development for both solid tumors and acute myeloid leukemia (AML)."

"While adoptive cell therapies have proven a powerful tool against hematological cancers, their application to solid tumors has historically been limited by restricted cell trafficking to tumors and the harsh tumor microenvironment (TME)," added Sergio Rutella, M.D., Ph.D., FRCPath, FRSB, Professor of Cancer Immunotherapy at Nottingham Trent University and presenting author. "These findings are highly promising and suggest that memory NK cells can circumvent these challenges, with broad potential therapeutic applications for solid tumors."

Today’s presentation highlighted the following:

WU-NK-101 exhibited enhanced metabolic fitness and metabolic flexibility, contributing to resilient and enhanced function within the adverse immunosuppressive TME relative to conventional NK (cNK) cells.
WU-NK-101 showed potent cytotoxicity against tumor cells. In vitro, WU-NK-101 in combination with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) demonstrated a statistically significant increase in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity when compared to mAbs alone, which was further validated by significant anti-tumor activity in vivo when compared to WU-NK-101 alone.
WU-NK-101 in combination with mAbs demonstrated robust anti-tumor activity, showing enhanced trafficking, tumor infiltration, and persistence.
These data suggest that WU-NK-101 may overcome the current limitations of adoptive cellular therapies and support its clinical development in the solid tumor setting.
The details of Wugen’s presentation at ESMO (Free ESMO Whitepaper) are as follows:

Title: WU-NK-101: An Enhanced NK Cell Therapy Optimized for Function in the Tumor Microenvironment (TME)

Abstract Number: 11P

Date and Time: Sunday, September 11, 2022, from 12:00 – 13:00 CEST (6:00 – 7:00 a.m. EDT)

Location: Paris Expo Porte De Versailles, Poster Area, Hall 4

Additional meeting information can be found at View Source

About WU-NK-101

WU-NK-101 is a novel immunotherapy harnessing the power of memory natural killer (NK) cells to treat liquid and solid tumors. Memory NK cells are hyper-functional, long-lasting immune cells that exhibit enhanced anti-tumor activity and a cytokine-induced memory-like (CIML) phenotype. This rare cell population has a superior phenotype, proliferation capacity, and metabolic fitness that makes it better suited for cancer therapy than other NK cell therapies. Wugen is applying its proprietary MonetaTM platform to advance WU-NK-101 as a commercially scalable, off-the-shelf cell therapy for cancer. WU-NK-101 is currently in development for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and solid tumors.