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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

ProjectMechanismCompanyTrialAbstract
THIONucleotide analogueMAIA BiotechnologyThio-101, Libtayo combo in ICI-resistant NSCLC1492*
Invikafusp alfaTCR Vβ6/Vβ10/IL-2 fusion proteinMarengo TherapeuticsStart001 in PD-(L)1-resistant tumours1470*
IBI363PD-1/IL-2α-bias fusion proteinInnoventPh2 immunotherapy-naive melanoma1502
IMNN-001IL-12 DNA plasmid vectorImunon (FKA Celsion)Ovation-2, + neoadjuvant chemo in ovarian & other gynaecological cancers1505
NKTR-255IL-15NektarPost-chemo solid tumours1489
Eseba-vecHPV E6/E7-encoding arenavirus vaccineHookipa+ Keytruda in HPV16+ve head and neck cancer (PD-L1 ≥20%)1480
IDP-023FcεRIγ-deficient NK cellsIndapta TherapeuticsFirst-in-human multiple myeloma/NHL data1483
BNT116mRNA immunotherapyBioNTechLuca-Merit-1, +/- Libtayo in NSCLC1486
Decoy20TLR agonistIndaptus TherapeuticsPh1 solid tumours1497

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.