Innovative Cellular Therapeutics to Present CoupledCAR® Solid Tumor CAR-T Clinical Data at Upcoming Scientific Meetings

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Innovative Cellular Therapeutics (ICT), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a comprehensive platform of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies for solid and liquid tumors, today announced its plans to present CoupledCAR® solid tumor CAR-T clinical data at two key oncology conferences.

ICT will make data presentations at The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs (SITC 2020) and at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 62nd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2020) conferences. The data describe two heavily pre-treated patient groups with colorectal cancer and thyroid cancer, respectively. The group of seven colorectal cancer patients was treated with anti-GCC (guanylate cyclase 2C) CoupledCAR® CAR-T cells, while the group of three thyroid cancer patients was treated with anti-TSHR (thyroid stimulating hormone receptor) CoupledCAR® CAR-T cells. In both groups, the CoupledCAR® CAR-T cells showed rapid and significant expansion in vivo as well as infiltration into the tumor tissue sites, demonstrating enhanced tumor killing and shrinkage. 71.4% (5/7) Overall Response Rate (ORR) and 14.3% (1/7) Complete Remission (CR) rate was achieved in the colorectal cancer group. 66.7% (2/3) ORR and 33.3% (1/3) CR was achieved in the thyroid cancer group.

“CoupledCAR® is ICT’s novel, in-house developed, proprietary CAR-T platform technology designed to overcome the challenges observed with conventional CAR-T therapies in treating solid tumors. CoupledCAR® significantly improves the expansion of CAR-T cells in vivo and enhances the CAR-T cells’ migration ability and resistance to immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment. This allows the CoupledCAR® CAR-T cells to infiltrate tumor tissue sites and increase anti-tumor activities,” said Larry (Lei) Xiao, Ph.D., ICT’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited to share the strong human proof-of-concept efficacy results achieved with CoupledCAR® across multiple hospital sites in China, coordinated through our R&D engine in Shanghai, and have initiated pre-IND discussions with the FDA to advance our CoupledCAR® solid tumor CAR-T therapies into the clinic in the United States in the near future.”

SITC 2020 Presentations:

Session Date/Time: November 11-14, 2020, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST
Session Title/Location: Virtual Poster Hall
Abstract Title: Novel CoupledCAR^TM Technology for Treating Colorectal Cancer
Abstract Number: 701

Session Date/Time: November 11-14, 2020, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST
Session Title/Location: Virtual Poster Hall
Abstract Title: CoupledCAR^TM Technology for Treating Thyroid Cancer
Abstract Number: 700

ASH 2020 Presentations:

Session Date/Time: Sunday, December 6, 2020, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM PST
Session Title/Location: 801. Gene Editing, Therapy and Transfer I
Abstract Title: Novel CoupledCAR^TM Technology for Treating Colorectal Cancer
Oral Presentation Time: 3:00 PM PST
Publication Number: 501 – link here

Session Date/Time: Saturday, December 5, 2020, 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM PST
Session Title/Location: 801. Gene Editing, Therapy and Transfer: Poster I
Abstract Title: CoupledCAR^TM Technology for Treating Thyroid Cancer
Publication Number: 1541 – link here

About Innovative Cellular Therapeutics
Innovative Cellular Therapeutics (ICT) is a Rockville, Maryland-based clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of solid and liquid tumors. ICT is in pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its first solid tumor CAR-T programs, based on the Company’s proprietary CoupledCAR® solid tumor platform technology. ICT has already achieved promising responses with CoupledCAR® in colorectal and thyroid cancer patients in ongoing human proof-of-concept trials being conducted across multiple hospital sites in China, coordinated through its Shanghai-based R&D engine. ICT is initiating its first U.S. clinical trial with its most advanced program, ICTCAR014, after having received FDA IND clearance in late 2019. ICTCAR014 is based on ICT’s proprietary ArmoredCAR® liquid tumor platform technology and is a next generation CD19-targeting CAR-T therapy that expresses a dominant negative PD-1 (dnPD-1) protein to block immunosuppression by cancer cells. ICTCAR014 is being developed for patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), including PD-L1 positive patients. For more information, please visit www.ictbio.com.