Aduro Announces Milestone Achieved under Merck Collaboration for Initiation of Anti-CD27 Phase I Trial in Advanced Solid Tumo...
March 05 2018 - 4:05PM
Aduro Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADRO) today announced that the company
earned a $3.0 million development milestone payment under its
worldwide licensing agreement with Merck (known as MSD outside the
United States and Canada) for the initiation of a Phase I clinical
trial of its anti-CD27 antibody. The Phase 1 trial is designed to
evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of the anti-CD27 antibody
when administered alone and in combination with pembrolizumab in
adults with advanced solid tumors.
“We are pleased with the strong progress Merck has made in the
development of our anti-CD27 antibody,” stated Hans van Eenennaam,
Ph.D., executive vice president of antibody research and site head,
Aduro Biotech Europe. “This marks an important step forward in the
advancement of our proprietary B-select monoclonal antibody
technology, as the second antibody to enter the clinic.”
About CD27 and Aduro’s Anti-CD27 Antibody CD27
is a co-stimulatory receptor expressed on different immune cells,
such as T-lymphocytes and NK (natural killer) cells. It has been
recognized as having an important role in priming, enhancing and
sustaining a productive anti-cancer (CD8 T-cell) adaptive immune
response. In preclinical studies, anti-CD27 activation was shown to
enhance T-cell response, which in combination with immune
checkpoint inhibition demonstrated the ability to achieve complete
tumor eradication.
In 2014, Merck, through certain affiliates, entered into a
worldwide license agreement for the development and
commercialization of CD27 antibody agonists. Aduro’s anti-CD27
antibody, which was identified with its proprietary B-select
monoclonal antibody technology, targets a functional epitope on
CD27 demonstrating potent activation of the CD27 co-stimulatory
pathway in pre-clinical studies. As a part of the worldwide license
agreement, and in addition to payments received, including the $15
million up-front payment, Aduro is eligible to receive future
development, commercial and net sales milestone payments. In
addition, Aduro is eligible to receive royalties in the mid-single
digits to low teens based on any net sales of the product, if it is
approved for marketing.
About Aduro Aduro Biotech, Inc. is an
immunotherapy company focused on the discovery, development and
commercialization of therapies that transform the treatment of
challenging diseases. Aduro's technology platforms, which are
designed to harness the body's natural immune system, are being
investigated in cancer indications and have the potential to expand
into autoimmune and infectious diseases. Aduro's STING Pathway
Activator platform is designed to activate the STING receptor in
immune cells, resulting in a potent tumor-specific immune response.
ADU-S100 is the first STING Pathway Activator compound to enter the
clinic and is currently being evaluated in both a Phase 1
monotherapy study as well as a Phase 1b combination study with an
anti-PD1 immune checkpoint inhibitor. Aduro’s B-select monoclonal
antibody platform is comprised of a number of immune modulating
assets in research and development, including BION-1301, an
anti-APRIL antibody. Aduro's pLADD program is based on proprietary
attenuated strains of Listeria that have been engineered to express
tumor neoantigens that are specific to an individual patient’s
tumor. Other Listeria strains for lung and prostate cancers are
being advanced by a partner. Aduro is collaborating with leading
global pharmaceutical companies to expand its products and
technology platforms. For more information, please visit
www.aduro.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements for
purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include
statements regarding our intentions or current expectations
concerning, among other things, the potential for our technology
platforms, plans, our eligibility to receive future milestones or
royalties and the potential for eventual regulatory approval of our
product candidates. In some cases, you can identify these
statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “will,”
“continue,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “project,”
“seek,” “expect,” “position” or the negative or plural of these
words or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ
materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to,
our history of net operating losses and uncertainty regarding our
ability to achieve profitability, our ability to develop and
commercialize our product candidates, our ability to use and expand
our technology platforms to build a pipeline of product candidates,
our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our
product candidates, our ability to operate in a competitive
industry and compete successfully against competitors that have
greater resources than we do, our reliance on third parties, and
our ability to obtain and adequately protect intellectual property
rights for our product candidates. We discuss many of these
risks in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” contained
in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December
31, 2017, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this
press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We
assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
after the date of this press release.
Contact: |
Media Contact: |
Jennifer Lew |
Aljanae Reynolds |
Chief Financial
Officer |
510 809 2452 |
510 809-4816 |
press@aduro.com |
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