Full Press Release Details
Replimune to Present
New Biomarker & Pre-clinical Data for Lead Oncolytic Immunotherapy Programs at the 2021 American Association for Cancer Research
Data confirms potent anti-tumor activity & activation of
robust systemic immune responses by RP1 and RP2
Woburn, MA, April 12, 2021
- Replimune Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: REPL), a biotechnology company developing oncolytic immuno-gene therapies derived from its
Immulytic platform, today announced additional data supporting the multiple mechanisms of action for its lead programs, RP1 and RP2,
during two presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2021 being held virtually April 10-15,
2021 and May 17-21, 2021.
"We developed Replimune's Immulytic platform with the intention
of developing therapies with both enhanced tumor killing potency and with an enhanced ability to initiate a systemic anti-tumor immune
response. This pre-clinical and clinical biomarker data provides further evidence that these objectives are being achieved, and that RP1
and RP2 are able to initiate a potent systemic immune response against a patient's cancer," said Robert Coffin, PhD, President
and Chief Research and Development Officer, Replimune.
Details of the presentations are as follows:
Abstract Title: Clinical
biomarker studies with two fusion-enhanced versions of oncolytic HSV (RP1 and RP2) alone and in combination with nivolumab in cancer patients
indicate potent immune activation - Abstract #: LB180
This presentation is now available for on-demand viewing on the AACR
Annual Meeting 2021 website linked here and also posted to the presentations section of the Replimune website and linked here.
RP1 is Replimune's lead Immulytic product candidate and is based
on a proprietary new strain of herpes simplex virus (HSV) engineered to maximize tumor killing potency, the immunogenicity of tumor cell
death and the activation of a systemic anti-tumor immune response through the expression of a GALV-GP R- fusogenic protein and GM-CSF.
RP2 is a derivative of RP1 that expresses an anti-CTLA-4 antibody-like molecule intended to provide targeted and potent delivery to the
sites of immune response initiation in the tumor and draining lymph nodes, with the goal of focusing systemic immune-based efficacy on
tumors and limiting off-target toxicity.
Abstract Title: Immunomodulatory
effects of a novel, enhanced potency gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) fusogenic membrane glycoprotein-expressing herpes simplex virus
platform with increased efficacy combined with anti PD-1 therapy - Abstract #1917
This poster presentation is a collaboration between Replimune and The
Institute of Cancer Research, London, UK.
This presentation is now available for
on-demand viewing on the AACR Annual Meeting 2021 website linked here and also posted to the presentations section of the
Replimune website and linked here.
"RP1 and RP2 represent attractive potential treatment modalities
with the ability to self-amplify, kill through multiple mechanisms and promote anti-tumour immune responses," said Professor Kevin
Harrington, PhD, Professor in Biological Cancer Therapies at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and Consultant Clinical Oncologist
at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. "These data show that RP1 increases PD-L1 expression,
increases CD3 T cell infiltration in injected and contralateral tumors, and has profound effects on the gene expression profile in both
injected and non-injected tumors which are consistent with potent and broad immune activation. These benefits are then further enhanced
by treatment with anti-PD1 creating the potential for an attractive treatment option for patients with difficult to treat tumor types
who are currently underserved."
Opdivo is a registered trademark of Bristol Myers Squibb.
Replimune Group, Inc., headquartered
in Woburn, MA, was founded in 2015 to develop the next generation of oncolytic immune-gene therapies for the treatment of cancer. Replimune
is developing novel, proprietary therapeutics intended to improve the direct cancer-killing effects of selective virus replication and
the potency of the immune response to the tumor antigens released. Replimune's Immulytic platform is designed to maximize
systemic immune activation, in particular to tumor neoantigens, through robust viral-mediated immunogenic tumor cell killing and the
delivery of optimal combinations of immune-activating proteins to the tumor and draining lymph nodes. The approach is expected to be
highly synergistic with immune checkpoint blockade and other approaches to cancer treatment across a broad range of cancers. Replimune
intends to progress these therapies rapidly through clinical development in combination with other immuno-oncology products with complementary
mechanisms of action as well as in standalone indications. For more information, please visit www.replimune.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
including statements regarding and other statements identified by words such as "could," "expects," "intends,"
"may," "plans," "potential," "should," "will," "would," or similar
expressions and the negatives of those terms. Forward-looking statements are not promises or guarantees of future performance, and are
subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements. These factors include risks related to our limited operating history,
our ability to generate positive clinical trial results for our product candidates, the costs and timing of operating our in-house manufacturing
facility, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals, changes in laws and regulations to which we are subject, competitive pressures,
our ability to identify additional product candidates, political and global macro factors including the impact of the coronavirus as a
global pandemic and related public health issues, and other risks as may be detailed from time to time in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K
and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our actual results could
differ materially from the results described in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements.
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