Acepodia Presents Data on its Allogeneic Natural Killer-Like Gamma-Delta T Cell Therapy, ACE1831, in Development for Hematological Cancers

2021-05-31

Preclinical data demonstrate potential of off-the-shelf, NK-like gamma-delta T cells in developing cell therapies for the treatment of cancers

ACE1831, an allogeneic cell therapy candidate targeting hematological cancers, demonstrates prolonged survival in vivo

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acepodia, a biotechnology company developing next generation solid tumor and hematologic cancer cell therapies, today presented new preclinical data showing that the company’s CD20-targeting, natural killer (NK)-like gamma-delta T cell therapy, ACE1831, which is being developed for hematological cancers, demonstrated prolonged survival in vivo. Through Acepodia’s unique antibody-cell conjugation (ACC) platform, which links tumor-targeting antibodies to a variety of effector cells, ACE1831 is comprised of NK-like gamma-delta T cells armed with an anti-CD20 antibody, enabling it to target cancer cells and overcome tumor defenses to deliver a potent, cancer-killing cellular payload.

The data were presented at the Allogeneic Cell Therapies Summit 2021 on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 as an oral presentation, titled, “Allogeneic Gamma-Delta T Cell Therapy.” The presentation is available on the Acepodia corporate website at Acepodia.com/Events & Presentations.

“While gamma-delta T cells are known to recognize a broad range of antigens with capability to activate other immune cells in order to attack target cells directly or indirectly, Acepodia’s unique NK-like gamma-delta T cells are enriched to provide the added benefits of NK functions and biomarkers, such as CD56 and NKG2D. When combined with Acepodia’s ACC technology, the company is able to further armor these specific immune effector cells to potentially eradicate tumors and overcome tumor inhibition signals without the use of gene-editing,” said Sonny Hsiao, Ph.D., chief executive officer and co-founder of Acepodia. “We plan to continue to develop novel off-the-shelf approaches such as this that leverage our unique ACC technology platform, which can be applied to a variety of immune effector cells, and look forward to submitting our planned Investigational New Drug application for ACE1831 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the coming future.”

Key presentation highlights include:

In an in vivo model, ACE1831 showed prolonged survival compared to the treatment group utilizing the same antibody and effector cells separately.
ACE1831 triggers the release of interferon gamma but not interleukin-6 while engaging the target tumor cells in the in vivo model, which shows that ACE1831 may activate the immune system without the risk of cytokine release syndrome.
Utilizing the Company’s cryopreservation process, NK-like gamma-delta T cells preserved nearly 100% viability and potency, thus allowing for a true off-the-shelf-product that can be easily deployed and transported to the treatment site at the specific time of need.

About Gamma-Delta T Cells

Acepodia’s gamma delta T cell program harnesses the unique properties of gamma delta T cells to develop a new class of off-the-shelf cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Gamma delta T cells have characteristics of both the innate and adaptive immune systems that make them an ideal chassis for the development of cell therapies. This cell type can directly recognize and attack cancerous cells as well as coordinate a broad antitumor immune response by recruiting and activating other immune factors and cells to the site of disease. Gamma delta T cells have also been shown to preferentially traffic to distinct tissues and could be ideally suited for more targeted treatment of certain types of cancers.

About ACE1831

ACE1831 is an off-the-shelf gamma delta T cell therapy candidate developed from Acepodia’s proprietary antibody-cell conjugation platform. ACE1831 targets CD20-expressing hematological cancers using anti-CD20 antibody conjugated gamma delta T cells. Taking advantage of the nature of gamma delta T cells to scavenge the malignant blood cells, ACE1831 has demonstrated in models enhanced cytotoxicity against cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo.

About Acepodia

Acepodia is a privately held biotechnology company focused on eradicating cancers with potent and targeted first-in-class cell therapies. The company’s next generation allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies are based on a proprietary NK cell line (oNK) and allogneic NK-like gamma delta T cells that have been selected for their potent anti-tumor activity. Acepodia’s flexible drug development platform is designed to supercharge immune effector cells’ tumor affinity through its unique Antibody-Cell Conjugation (ACC) technology that links tumor-targeting antibodies to the surface proteins of immune effector cells. Its lead product candidate, ACE1702, is the first antibody-conjugated NK cell therapy in clinical development for the treatment of HER2-expressing solid tumors. For more information, visit https://www.acepodia.com.

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