- Medicenna (MDNA) will present Phase 1/2 ABILITY study data highlighting MDNA11’s favourable clinical profile at the 2022 Frontiers in Cancer Immunotherapy Meeting
- The meeting is being held virtually and in person from May 9 to 11, 2022.
- Key findings from the new analyses include MDNA11 treatment led to a dose-dependent expansion of cancer-fighting lymphocytes
- Extremely high eosinophil count is associated with severe toxicity and is a known side effect of high-dose recombinant human IL-2
- Enrollment into the study’s fourth dose-escalation cohort is ongoing. An initial update on efficacy data from the ABILITY study is expected in mid-2022
- Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. (MDNA) is up 0.78 per cent, trading at C$1.29 at 11:24 am ET
Medicenna Therapeutics’ (MDNA) long-acting IL-2 super-agonist, has been featured in a poster presentation at the 9th Annual Frontiers in Cancer Immunotherapy Meeting.
The New York Academy of Sciences will be held virtually and in person from May 9 to 11, 2022.
“Developing a best-in-class IL-2 Superkine is our top priority. We are pleased to disclose additional promising clinical data consistent with our expectations based on the novel “beta-only” mechanism of MDNA11,” said Dr. Fahar Merchant, President and CEO of Medicenna.
“The cadence of our early clinical data demonstrates that MDNA11 is a unique long-acting IL-2 with favourable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects boosting cancer-fighting CD8+T cells and natural killer cells without stimulating immunosuppressive regulatory T cells or eosinophils known to cause toxicity,” added Merchant.
The presentation featured both previously announced data from the ABILITY study’s initial dose-escalation cohorts showing dose-dependent stimulation of anti-cancer immune cells with MDNA11 treatment and new pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) (PD)) analyses from the first eight patients with treatment-refractory solid tumours.
Key findings from the new analyses confirmed that MDNA11 treatment led to a dose-dependent expansion of cancer-fighting lymphocytes (>200 per cent increase at 30 µg/kg) and no significant increases in eosinophil count when compared to baseline.
Extremely high eosinophil count is associated with severe toxicity and is a known side effect of high-dose recombinant human IL-2 (Proleukin®).
MDNA11 has shown a favourable and consistent pharmacokinetic profile following multiple doses suggesting that it may not generate anti-drug antibodies associated with immunogenicity.
Granulysin expressing immune cells also increased three-fold in a dose-dependent manner. Granulysin is a potent agent causing cancer-specific cell death and is associated with better patient outcomes.
Enrollment into the study’s fourth dose-escalation cohort is ongoing. An initial update on efficacy data from the ABILITY study is expected in mid-2022.
Medicenna is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on developing novel, highly selective versions of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-13 Superkines and first in class Empowered Superkines.
Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. (MDNA) is up 0.78 per cent, trading at C$1.29 at 11:24 am ET.
