Agenus Announces Commencement of Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial of anti-GITR Checkpoint Antibody INCAGN1876 in Patients with Solid Tumors LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)

Announces Commencement of Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial of anti-GITR

Checkpoint Antibody INCAGN1876 in Patients with Solid Tumors

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 2016--Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:

AGEN), an immuno-oncology company developing antibodies including

checkpoint inhibitors and other checkpoint modulators, and cancer

vaccines, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a

Phase 1/2 clinical trial of the anti-GITR agonist antibody INCAGN1876.

The trial is being conducted by, and in collaboration with, Incyte

The open-label, dose-escalation portion of the trial will evaluate the

safety and tolerability of INCAGN1876 in patients with advanced or

metastatic solid tumors and determine the pharmacologically active

and/or maximum tolerated dose of INCAGN1876. Part 2 of the trial is

planned to further evaluate the recommended dose of INCAGN1876 in

selected tumor types, including advanced or metastatic endometrial

adenocarcinoma, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer and renal cell

"This is the second product candidate from our antibody program that has

advanced into clinical trials this year," said Garo H. Armen, Ph.D.

Chairman and CEO of Agenus. "We expect to initiate additional clinical

studies with antibodies as well as other immuno-oncology leads from our

comprehensive pipeline in the next twelve months."

INCAGN1876 is an agonist antibody targeting the glucocorticoid-induced

TNFR-related protein, or GITR. Upon activation, GITR, a co-stimulatory

receptor, can stimulate immune cells to target and potentially destroy

cancer cells. This antibody was discovered during an earlier

collaboration with Ludwig Cancer Research. INCAGN1876 is being

co-developed with Incyte.

"Targeted immunomodulatory therapy including anti-PD-1 and CTLA-4 drugs

have demonstrated unprecedented results in cancer, but there remains

significant need to improve treatment in cancer patients," said Robert

B. Stein, M.D., Ph.D., Agenus' President, Research & Development. "GITR

is a unique co-stimulatory receptor which holds great promise as a new

pathway for stimulating immune cells to target cancer and may be

effective alone or in combination with other immuno-modulatory

Additional information about the trial can be found here.

About Checkpoint Antibodies

Promising clinical data from trials employing monoclonal antibodies that

bind to checkpoint molecules, such as CTLA-4 and programmed death

receptor-1 (PD-1), have generated considerable excitement in the field

of cancer immunotherapy. These molecules serve as checks employed by the

body to prevent a runaway immune response or allow rapid activation of

the immune response when needed. Unfortunately, these necessary

mechanisms of control can hinder the anti-cancer immune response. They

can be harnessed by cancer cells as a defense against immune attack.

Agenus is developing a broad pipeline of antibodies that bind to key

checkpoint proteins and activate or block their activities for use in

Agenus is an immuno-oncology company focused on the discovery and

development of revolutionary new treatments that engage the body's

immune system to benefit patients suffering from cancer. By combining

multiple powerful platforms, Agenus has established a highly integrated

approach to target identification and validation, and for the discovery,

development and manufacture of monoclonal antibodies that modulate

targets of interest. The Company's broad portfolio of novel checkpoint

and other immuno-modulatory monoclonal antibodies, vaccines and

adjuvants, work in combination to provide the opportunity to create

best-in-class therapeutic regimens. Agenus' heat shock protein-based

vaccine, Prophage , has successfully completed Phase 2 trials in

newly-diagnosed glioblastoma. The Company has formed collaborations with

Merck and Incyte to discover and develop multiple checkpoint antibodies.

For more information, please visit www.agenusbio.com; information

that may be important to investors will be routinely posted on our

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made

pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws,

including statements regarding the Company's product candidates and

clinical trial plans. These forward-looking statements are subject to

risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ

materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the

factors described under the Risk Factors section of our most recent

Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or annual report on Form 10-K filed with

the Securities and Exchange Commission. Agenus cautions investors not to

place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained

in this release. These statements speak only as of the date of this

press release, and Agenus undertakes no obligation to update or revise

the statements, other than to the extent required by law. All

forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by

this cautionary statement.

Michelle Linn, 781-674-4541

Brad Miles, 646-513-3125