SITC 2024 preview – late-breakers for Marengo and Indapta
Two private US biotechs – Marengo Therapeutics and Indapta Therapeutics – have secured late-breaking presentations at the upcoming SITC (Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer) conference. The meeting is notable for featuring several cytokine-based approaches, despite their less than stellar track record. These include Marengo's invikafusp alfa, as well as NKTR-255, an IL-15 Nektar is hoping to partner after the company's April 2023 change of focus, Imunon's IMNN-001 and Innovent's IBI363. Imunon, a struggling biotech formerly known as Celsion, toplined IMNN-001's Ovation-2 study in gynaecological cancers as positive in July, and SITC will see full data from this trial. SITC late-breakers featuring antibodies are profiled separately, but those on non-MAb approaches also include Hookipa's HPV E6/E7-encoding arenavirus vaccine eseba-vec, which is the key focus for this troubled company after the ousting of its lead execs in July. The two private biotechs have already enjoyed significant financial success: Indapta, whose IDP-023 is its only clinical asset, closed a $50m series A round in early 2022, while Marengo debuted with an $80m venture round in 2021, shortly after which it secured $45m up front from Ipsen for rights to two TCR Vβ-targeting preclinical projects; invikafusp alfa uses the same approach.
Selected SITC 2024 late-breaking clinical data featuring non-MAb approaches
| Project | Mechanism | Company | Trial | Abstract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THIO | Nucleotide analogue | MAIA Biotechnology | Thio-101, Libtayo combo in ICI-resistant NSCLC | 1492* |
| Invikafusp alfa | TCR Vβ6/Vβ10/IL-2 fusion protein | Marengo Therapeutics | Start001 in PD-(L)1-resistant tumours | 1470* |
| IBI363 | PD-1/IL-2α-bias fusion protein | Innovent | Ph2 immunotherapy-naive melanoma | 1502 |
| IMNN-001 | IL-12 DNA plasmid vector | Imunon (FKA Celsion) | Ovation-2, + neoadjuvant chemo in ovarian & other gynaecological cancers | 1505 |
| NKTR-255 | IL-15 | Nektar | Post-chemo solid tumours | 1489 |
| Eseba-vec | HPV E6/E7-encoding arenavirus vaccine | Hookipa | + Keytruda in HPV16+ve head and neck cancer (PD-L1 ≥20%) | 1480 |
| IDP-023 | FcεRIγ-deficient NK cells | Indapta Therapeutics | First-in-human multiple myeloma/NHL data | 1483 |
| BNT116 | mRNA immunotherapy | BioNTech | Luca-Merit-1, +/- Libtayo in NSCLC | 1486 |
| Decoy20 | TLR agonist | Indaptus Therapeutics | Ph1 solid tumours | 1497 |
Note: *oral presentation; the rest are late-breaking posters. Abstract content is embargoed until 9am EST on 5 Nov.
SITC 2024 takes place in Houston, Texas on 6-10 November.
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