KaliVir Immunotherapeutics Announces New In Vivo Data Demonstrating Potent Therapeutic Activity for Oncolytic Therapy VET3-TGI at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting

PITTSBURGH, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- KaliVir Immunotherapeutics, Inc., a biotech company developing cutting-edge, multi-mechanistic oncolytic viral immunotherapy programs, today announced the presentation of new data on its lead pre-clinical candidate VET3-TGI presented in a poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Orlando, Florida. VET3-TGI is based on KaliVir's unique Vaccinia Enhanced Template (VET^™) platform, capable of generating potent novel oncolytic vaccinia viruses with modifications to maximize viral replication and to enhance intravenous delivery and spread. VET3-TGI incorporates modifications granting the expression of CXCR3, IL-12 and a TGF-β inhibitor, allowing for efficient trafficking to the tumor, activation of anti-tumor immune responses and overcoming of local immunosuppressive activity.

The functionality and therapeutic activity of VET3-TGI were tested in multiple murine in vivo tumor models, and the mechanism of action and toxicity profile were assessed. VET3-TGI demonstrated potent therapeutic activity, even at doses several logs below equivalent clinical doses and in the presence of pre-existing anti-viral immunity. Mechanism of action studies confirmed enhanced IL-12 expression and reduced suppression of CD8 T cells mediated through blockade of TGF-β, and indicate that the therapeutic efficacy of VET3-TGI is associated with considerable modification of the tumor microenvironment. The data presented at AACR also includes preliminary toxicity studies demonstrating the safety of VET3-TGI.

"This new in vivo data represents a significant validation of our lead pre-clinical candidate and builds upon the already robust in vitro data to further demonstrate the efficacy and safety of VET3-TGI in multiple tumor types," said Stephen Thorne, PhD, CSO and co-founder of KaliVir. "This is an exciting time for KaliVir as we expand our lead program into the next phase to develop a human version of the virus for efficacy and toxicology testing."

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About KaliVir Immunotherapeutics, Inc.

KaliVir Immunotherapeutics is a privately held biotech company developing cutting-edge, multi-mechanistic oncolytic viral immunotherapy programs. The company has developed a unique vaccinia virus-based platform, Vaccinia Enhanced Template "VET" Platform, that can generate potent novel oncolytic vaccinia viruses with modifications to maximize viral replication and to enhance intravenous delivery and spread. VET^™ platform utilizes the large transgene capacity of the vaccinia virus to deliver therapeutics matched to tumor immunophenotypes to stimulate patients' immune systems and modify the tumor microenvironment. KaliVir's oncolytic virus candidates are designed to be safe, potent and systemically deliverable to treat cancer patients across multiple tumor types. KaliVir has separate collaborations with Roche and Astellas Pharma to design and generate novel oncolytic vaccinia viruses derived from the VET^™ platform. In addition, Astellas entered into a world-wide exclusive license to develop and commercialize KaliVir's initial lead clinical candidate VET2-L2 oncolytic vaccinia virus. KaliVir is currently advancing multiple therapeutic candidates toward the clinic. For more information, please visit www.kalivir.com.

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SOURCE KaliVir Immunotherapeutics