SOTIO Secures €280m of Funding to Expand and Advance Clinical Pipeline

• PPF Group provides funding to advance SOTIO through key clinical milestones
• Proceeds shall be used to conduct two phase 2 studies with SOT101, including a checkpoint inhibitor combination trial
• Three programs (SOT102, BOXR1030, and SOT201) to advance through phase 1

PRAGUE, Czech Republic and BASEL, Switzerland and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SOTIO Biotech, a clinical stage immuno-oncology company owned by PPF Group, announced today that is has secured €280m of funding to significantly expand and advance its clinical pipeline, including its lead asset SOT101, an IL-15 superagonist, and three new clinical programs until the end of 2023.

The funding will be used to advance SOT101 through two multi-indication phase 2 clinical trials: The phase 2 AURELIO-03 study tests SOT101 as monotherapy in patients with melanoma, squamous skin carcinoma and kidney cancer, and a planned phase 2 AURELIO-04 study will evaluate the combination of SOT101 with a checkpoint inhibitor.

This funding will also be used to advance three novel programs through phase 1: BOXR1030 is the company’s lead CAR-T program for the treatment of various solid tumors expressing GPC3. It’s based on the proprietary BOXR™ platform that aims to enhance the fitness of T cells in the hostile tumor microenvironment. The study is scheduled to start early 2022. SOT102 is a novel ADC with a best-in-class potential for Claudin 18.2 targeting therapies. A phase 1 dose escalation in patients with gastric and pancreatic cancer shall start in March 2022. Finally, SOTIO plans to initiate a phase 1 study with our first IL-15 based immunocytokine using a PD-1 inhibitor as the targeting arm by the end of 2022.

“We are very excited and grateful for the continued strong support we’ve received from PPF Group today and since our inception,” said Radek Spisek, Ph.D., CEO of SOTIO. “This very significant funding will allow us to advance a broad pipeline of unique clinical stage programs to key value inflection points.”

“Over the last several years SOTIO has created an attractive pipeline of programs based on multiple differentiated modalities,” said Ladislav Bartonicek, CEO and shareholder of PPF Group. “We appreciate the successful track record of execution by the Company to this point and are confident that this funding will further enable SOTIO to continue building a unique, privately financed oncology company with a mature and diversified pipeline. It will be an important step to achieve our long-term goal of building a fully integrated oncology business.”

The funding is contingent on the achievement of certain development and regulatory milestones.

About PPF Group:
PPF Group operates in 25 countries, investing in multiple sectors, including financial services, telecommunications, media, biotechnology, real estate, and engineering. PPF Group’s reach spans from Europe to North America and across Asia. The Group owns assets to the value of EUR 40.3 billion and employs 80,000 people globally (30 June 2021).

About SOTIO Biotech
SOTIO Biotech is shaping the future of cancer immunotherapies by translating compelling science into patient benefit. The robust SOTIO clinical pipeline includes a differentiated superagonist of the attractive immuno-oncology target IL-15, SOT101, currently being tested in phase II clinical trials. Three programs will enter phase I clinical testing within the next 12 months, including SOT201, an IL-15-based immunocytokine, BOXR1030, a GPC3 targeted CAR-T based on proprietary technology designed to improve on the efficacy of CAR-T therapies in the tumor microenvironment and SOT102, a next generation Claudin18.2 targeted antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). SOTIO is a member of the PPF Group. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.sotio.com.

SOTIO is a registered trademark of SOTIO Biotech a.s. in selected countries.