MiNK Therapeutics Presents Clinical Activity And Long-Term Persistence Of Allogeneic iNKT Cells In Solid Tumors At SITC 2023

Author: Benzinga Newsdesk | November 03, 2023 12:08pm

• Clinical responses and durable activity with agenT-797 monotherapy and in combination with anti-PD-1
• First-of-a-kind persistence for an allogeneic cell therapy, with agenT-797 detected for up to 6 months without toxic pre-conditioning
• AgenT-797 advancing in a randomized phase 2 trial in 2L gastric cancer

NEW YORK, Nov. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MiNK Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:INKT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the discovery, development, and commercialization of allogeneic, off-the-shelf, invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapies to treat cancer and other immune-mediated diseases, today presented new agenT-797 data in solid tumor cancers at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer's (SITC) 38th Annual Meeting.

"These findings underscore the unique benefits of allogeneic unmodified iNKT cells, including their ability to amplify and accelerate immune response, promote tumor infiltration, and persist without toxic pre-conditioning in heavily pre-treated solid tumor cancers," said Dr. Jennifer Buell, President and Chief Executive Officer at MiNK. "AgenT-797 has the potential to overcome key barriers in cancer resistance and MiNK is committed to delivering these cells at scale for patients with cancer and other immune-mediated diseases."

Single administration of agenT-797 alone or in combination with anti-PD-1 delivered clinical benefit in heavily pre-treated patients with solid tumors.

• Phase 1 trial of agenT-797 alone or in combination with pembrolizumab or nivolumab without lymphodepletion (n=34) showed durable clinical benefit, including:
  • Clinical response in MSI-high 3L gastric cancer patient after failure on pembrolizumab and nivolumab/FOLFOX.
  • Long-term disease stabilization (n=10), including in testicular cancer (SD 9 months) and anti-PD-1 relapsed/refractory non-small-cell lung cancer (SD > 10 months).
  • Tolerable safety profile with no dose-limiting toxicities and no grade >3 neurotoxicity or cytokine release syndrome.

AgenT-797 showed long-term persistence and induced a potent anti-tumor response, including increased infiltration of cytotoxic immune cells into tumors.

• AgenT-797 was detected in the periphery for up to 6 months and persistence was independent of HLA matching.
• An increased level of immune cell tumor infiltration and neoantigen driven expansion of anti-tumor cytotoxic T cells was observed following administration.
• AgenT-797 promoted a systemic and local pro-inflammatory cytokine signature.
  
   

Expansion of clinical programs are underway in additional solid tumor settings, including relapsed/refractory gastric cancer.

• Expected launch of a randomized phase 2 trial in 2L gastric cancer, led by Dr. Yelena Janjigian, Chief of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, by year-end 2023. The study will evaluate agenT-797 in combination with standard of care chemotherapy +/- Agenus' botensilimab/balstilimab combination.
  • Expansion of phase 1 study underway to evaluate further signals in select tumor types, including non-small cell lung cancer and testicular cancer, and evaluate multi-dosing of agenT-797.

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