SEATTLE and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Ca., Nov. 11, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Immune Design, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on oncology, today announced new preclinical data demonstrating the ability of its ZVex discovery platform to induce immune responses to multiple antigens co-delivered selectively to dendritic cells in vivo. In addition, the company will present data on an alternate prime boost approach than that currently under investigation in Phase 2 studies. These data are being presented at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Conference taking place Nov. 9-13, 2016 in National Harbor, Maryland.
“This advancement of the ZVex platform enables the expression of potentially any combination of full-length conserved tumor antigens, neo-epitopes and immune enhancers from a single preparation, without resulting in antigen competition,” said Jan ter Meulen, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Immune Design. “This allows us to target a wide range of tumors with either off-the-shelf products or fully personalized therapies, thereby representing a potentially significant step forward in the evolution of our next-generation product development scope.”
Presentations
Immune Design scientists present data showing that immunization with multi-genome ZVex vectors expressing NY-ESO-1, MAGE-A3 and MAGE-A10 results in consistent induction of polyfunctional CD8 T cells against all three antigens and demonstrates significant improvement of immunogenicity by co-expression of the cytokine IL-12. Immune responses were as high as, or higher, than those obtained by combining individually manufactured vectors, demonstrating the versatility and potency of this multi-antigen ZVex approach.
In a second presentation highlighting an alternate ZVex-based prime boost, Immune Design scientists present data demonstrating in murine B16 and metastatic C26 colon carcinoma models that priming with a ZVex vector carrying the RNA for a tumor-associated antigen (TAA) and boosting with an adenoviral vector (Ad5) encoding the same antigen resulted in increased frequency of TAA-specific T cells and improved anti-tumor efficacy over a prime-boost regimen with ZVex alone.
The poster presentations are titled: “Multi-genome reassortant dendritic cell-tropic vector platform (ZVex®) allows flexible co-expression of multiple antigens and immune modulators for optimal induction of anti-tumor CD8+ T cell responses” and “Heterologous boosts with an adenoviral vector following a dendritic cell-tropic ZVex® prime generates robust antigen-specific T cell responses and enhanced anti-tumor protection.”
These posters will be posted on the publications page of the Immune Design website following presentation at the conference.
About ZVex
ZVex is Immune Design’s discovery platform designed to activate and expand the immune system’s natural ability to create tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) in vivo. The ZVex delivery system is designed to use a re-engineered virus to carry genetic information of one or more conserved tumor antigens, including neo-epitopes, as well as immune-modulatory molecules, selectively to dendritic cells to create CTLs to target tumor cells bearing that same tumor antigen(s).
About Immune Design
Immune Design is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company employing next-generation in vivo approaches to enable the body’s immune system to fight disease. The company’s technologies are engineered to activate the immune system’s natural ability to generate and/or expand antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells, while also enhancing other immune effectors, to fight cancer and other chronic diseases. CMB305 and G100, the primary focus of Immune Design’s ongoing immuno-oncology clinical programs, are products of its two synergistic discovery platforms, ZVex® and GLAASTM. Immune Design has offices in Seattle and South San Francisco. For more information, visit www.immunedesign.com.
Forward Looking Statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend” and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Immune Design’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about the timing, progress, scope and outcome of preclinical studies and the clinical application of Immune Design’s product candidates and technology platforms. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results including unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during preclinical or clinical studies, changes in expected or existing competition, changes in the regulatory environment and unexpected litigation or other disputes. Success in preclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful. Other factors that may cause Immune Design’s actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in Immune Design’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Risk Factors” sections contained therein. Except as required by law, Immune Design assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, even as new information becomes available.
CONTACT: Contact for Immune Design: Media Contact Julie Rathbun Rathbun Communications julie@rathbuncomm.com 206.769.9219 Investor Contact Shari Annes Annes Associates sannes@annesassociates.com 650-888-0902
