Prokarium, een biofarmaceutisch bedrijf dat pioniert op het gebied van oncologie van microbiële immunotherapie, heeft vandaag preklinische gegevens gedeeld op de 36e jaarlijkse bijeenkomst van de Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). De gegevens gepresenteerd in een wetenschappelijke postersessie bevestigen de preklinische werkzaamheid van hun levend verzwakte Salmonella enterica Typhi-stam ZH9 als een nieuwe microbiële immunotherapie bij blaaskanker. Prokarium bevordert het programma in de richting van de start van een klinische proef op basis van deze veelbelovende resultaten.

LONDEN–(BUSINESS WIRE)– “Microbiële immunotherapie, in de vorm van intravesicale Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is al 30 jaar de standaardbehandeling voor niet-spierinvasieve blaaskanker. Nu BCG-therapie lijdt aan producttekorten en gepaard gaat met significante bijwerkingen en hoge ziekterecidief- en progressiepercentages, zijn er enorme kansen voor innovatie en voor een nieuwe benadering van de behandeling van deze ziekte”, zegt Livija Deban, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer van Prokarium. “Onze gegevens gepresenteerd op SITC tonen aan dat onze therapie het potentieel heeft om een ​​aanzienlijk voordeel te bieden ten opzichte van de huidige zorgstandaard.”

Prokarium Shares Preclinical Proof-of-Concept Data on Its Microbial Immunotherapy Bladder Cancer Program at SITC 2021

Prokarium, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the oncology field of microbial immunotherapy, today shared preclinical data at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC) 36^th Annual Meeting. The data presented in a scientific poster session establish the preclinical efficacy of their live-attenuated Salmonella enterica Typhi strain ZH9 as a novel microbial immunotherapy in bladder cancer. Prokarium is advancing the program towards the initiation of a clinical trial based on these promising results.

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– “Microbial immunotherapy, in the form of intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), has been the standard-of-care for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer for 30 years. With BCG therapy suffering product supply shortages and being associated with significant side-effects and high disease recurrence and progression rates, there is huge opportunity for innovation and for a new approach to treating this disease,” said Livija Deban, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Prokarium. “Our data presented at SITC demonstrates that our therapy has the potential to offer a significant benefit over the current standard-of care.”

Therapeutic efficacy of intravesical Salmonella ZH9 was demonstrated in a stringent orthotopic bladder cancer model. Mice treated with a single intravesical dose of ZH9 four days after tumor challenge demonstrated significant survival benefit compared to both the control group and BCG-treated animals (median survival 30 vs. 20.5 (p=0.003) and 23.5 (p=0.025) days, respectively). Surviving ZH9-treated animals demonstrated 100% protection in a tumor rechallenge model, suggesting lasting anti-tumor immunity resulting from ZH9 treatment. Importantly, a single treatment with intravesical ZH9 resulted in a strong local immune response characterized by recruitment of NK cells, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and dendritic cells with an activated, cross-presenting (Ly6C+, CD103+) phenotype. In addition, the efficacy of intravesical ZH9 is further increased by a systemic priming dose of Salmonella, which recruits immune cells within the bladder prior to the intravesical dose, enhancing subsequent anti-tumor responses.

Presentation Details:

Title: Novel microbial immunotherapy approach for the treatment of bladder cancer

Poster Number: 878

Presenter: Livija Deban, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Prokarium

Date/Time: Saturday, November 13, 2021

Full text of the abstracts was released on the SITC website at 7:00 a.m. ET on November 9, 2021.

About NMIBC

Bladder cancer represents 5% of all new cancer cases in the US and accounts for 550,000 new cases yearly worldwide. The clinical staging is determined by the depth of invasion into the bladder wall and more than 70% of cases are diagnosed at an early stage, also known as Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer (NMIBC). Despite the early diagnosis, the only approved therapies are Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) and chemotherapy. Bladder cancer has the highest recurrence rate of any known cancers (up to 80%), which makes it one of the most expensive cancers to treat, and patients ultimately require surgical bladder removal (cystectomy), associated with increased morbidity/reduced quality of life.

About Prokarium

Prokarium is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the field of microbial immunotherapy. Our pipeline is designed to unlock the next level of immuno-oncology by building on the most recent advances in cancer immunology. Prokarium’s lead program is focused on transforming the treatment paradigm in bladder cancer by orchestrating immune-driven, long-lasting antitumor effects. Prokarium is based London, UK. For further information, visit https://www.prokarium.com.

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Contacts

For Prokarium
Kristen Albright

Chief Executive Officer

kristen.albright@prokarium.com
www.prokarium.com

For media
MacDougall Advisors

Matthew Corcoran or Mario Brkulj

+1 781-235-3060 or +49 175 5711 562

prokarium@macbiocom.com
www.macbiocom.com