A2 Bio publishes key preclinical findings demonstrating potential of its highly selective Tmod™ cell therapy platform to revolutionize the treatment of solid tumors in select patients

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Mar 02, 2022, 14:03 ET

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A2 Biotherapeutics, Inc. ("A2 Bio''), a biotechnology company focused on the treatment of solid tumors, announced today that key preclinical data related to its proprietary Tmod™ cell therapy platform have been published in Science Translational Medicine and Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. Tmod™ therapy is designed for cancer patients whose tumors harbor specific genetic deletions, and genetic testing enables early identification of patients that may benefit from such therapy. Tmod™ therapy exploits such deletions to selectively destroy tumors while sparing normal cells, potentially providing a radical new way to safely and effectively treat solid tumor cancers.

Tmod™ T cells selectively kill tumor cells while sparing normal cells, demonstrating the potential to revolutionize the treatment of solid tumors in select patients

"These two papers present a large body of preclinical in vitro and in vivo evidence that supports the robust, highly selective function of the Tmod™ system, a new approach to cancer therapy that addresses head-on the central problem of oncology - the ability of cancer medicines to distinguish between tumor and normal cells," said Dr. Alexander Kamb, Chief Scientific Officer at A2 Bio.

The paper published on March 2, 2022 in Science Translational Medicine (Sandberg et al., "A cell therapy designed to target the CEA antigen safely in selected patients with solid tumors") describes a clinical candidate directed at solid tumors of the colon and other organs which is currently advancing toward Phase 1. Dr. Han Xu, Vice President of Therapeutic Technology at A2 Bio and a senior author on the paper, said: "Our preclinical data suggest that this cell-based medicine will have the potency of a clinically active CEA-targeted therapeutic benchmark, but without the toxicity."

The paper published on January 28, 2022 in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (Tokatlian et al., "Mesothelin-specific CAR-T cell therapy that incorporates an HLA-gated safety mechanism selectively kills tumor cells") demonstrates the potential applications of Tmod™ T cells in lung cancer and other solid tumors. Dr. Agi Hamburger, Vice President of Drug Discovery and a senior author, commented: "Our publication not only describes the properties of an exciting new prospect for lung cancer patients but also highlights the impressive modularity of our Tmod™ platform, a platform that we hope can be extended to create therapies for many other cancer patients in the future."

Links to these and other A2 Bio publications can be accessed on the company's website: www.a2bio.com/science/abstracts-and-publications.

About A2 Biotherapeutics
A2 Biotherapeutics has invented the Tmod™ cell therapy platform to tackle the fundamental challenge in solid tumor treatment—the ability of cancer medicines to distinguish between tumor and normal cells. The Tmod™ mechanism utilizes two receptors to exploit common, specific gene losses in tumors which demarcate the tumor from normal cells. A2 is positioned to deliver a broad pipeline of both autologous and allogeneic cell products, with in-house cGMP manufacturing, a leadership team with 90+ years combined experience in biotech and cell therapy, and a world-class scientific advisory board. A2 is backed by investors that include The Column Group, Vida Ventures, Samsara BioCapital, Nextech Invest, Casdin Capital, Euclidean Capital, UC Investments (Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents), Hartford HealthCare Endowment, StepStone Group, Schroders, Section 32 and Merck.

For more information, please visit www.a2bio.com and linkedin.com/a2-biotherapeutics.

SOURCE A2 Biotherapeutics