Advaxis and Sorrento Form Collaboration to Evaluate Combinations of Advaxis's Lm-LLO Immunotherapy Technology and Sorrento's Immunomodulatory Antibodies
Advaxis
2 minutes ago
GlobeNewswire
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PRINCETON, N.J. and SAN DIEGO, May 19, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advaxis, Inc. (ADXS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies, has entered into a non-exclusive research and clinical trial collaboration agreement with Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (SRNE) to evaluate combinations of Advaxis's Lm-LLO cancer immunotherapy technology platform, including ADXS-HPV, ADXS-PSA and ADXS-HER2, with Sorrento's fully human antibodies targeting immune checkpoints, including GITR, OX40, LAG-3 and TIM-3. Sorrento has one of the largest and most diverse fully human antibody libraries in the industry designed to facilitate rapid identification and selection of highly specific therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) product candidates.
Advaxis's preclinical program for ADXS-HPV previously examined its therapeutic potential in combination with agonistic research antibodies, including anti-OX40 and anti-GITR. Preclinical data demonstrated that the combination of ADXS-HPV with agonistic research antibodies led to significant inhibition of tumor growth and prolonged survival in tumor-bearing mice. Complete regression of established tumors occurred in 40% and 60% of animals treated with ADXS-HPV in combination with anti-OX40 and anti-GITR antibodies, respectively (AACR Abstract #LB-229).
"We welcome the collaboration with Sorrento to evaluate its immunomodulatory antibodies in combination with our Lm-LLO immunotherapy technology platform," said Daniel J. O'Connor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Advaxis. "Leveraging Sorrento's fully human antibody library and Advaxis's Lm-LLO immunotherapy technology offers a significant opportunity to target multiple cancer indications and extend the potential of our respective company's technologies."
Under the terms of the agreement, Advaxis will conduct the studies and the companies will equally share the expenses. The companies hope to commence the first of the two planned combination studies in 2016. Results from the studies will be used to determine whether further clinical development of specific combinations is warranted.
"Clinical collaborations are an integral part of Sorrento's strategy to accelerate the development of our diverse portfolio of immuno-oncology antibodies against a broad range of cancers," said Dr. Henry Ji, President and Chief Executive Officer at Sorrento. "We are encouraged by the data presented by Dr. Khleif at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015, and believe there could be an important clinical benefit from the combination of our antibodies with Advaxis's Lm-LLO immunotherapies."
Destum Partners acted as advisor to Advaxis for this collaboration agreement.
About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.
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Sorrento is an oncology company developing new treatments for cancer and associated pain. Sorrento announced last week that Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong's NantPharma acquired the rights to Cynviloq(TM), which recently completed a successful TRIBECA study. Sorrento is also developing resiniferatoxin (RTX), a non-opiate TRPV1 agonist currently in a Phase 1/2 study at the NIH to treat terminal cancer patients suffering from intractable pain.
In December 2014, Sorrento and NantWorks formed a global joint venture, now called Nantibody, to focus on immunotherapies for cancer. Also in December 2014, Sorrento and Conkwest, Inc., a privately-held immuno-oncology company developing proprietary Neukoplast(R), a Natural Killer (NK) cell-line based therapy, entered into an agreement to jointly develop CAR.TNK(TM) (Chimeric Antigen Receptor Tumor-attacking Neukoplast) immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. In March 2015, Sorrento entered into a global collaboration with NantCell, a NantWorks company, to discover and develop immunotherapies against tumor neo-epitopes.
