Portage Biotech Enters Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with U.S. National Cancer Institute and Stimunity
Collaboration will advance preclinical and potential clinical development of
Portage and NCI will develop agents to enhance the efficacy of proprietary cancer vaccines and mouse model cancer vaccines developed by the NCI
Under terms of the agreement, Portage, Stimunity and the NCI will collaborate with the NCI’s
“This new collaboration provides an exciting opportunity which combines our team’s strong background advancing novel technology for cancer treatment with the expertise and resources of the NCI,” said Dr.
“The cancer vaccine space is evolving rapidly, but we still need to know how to optimize the immune response by blocking multiple inhibitory mechanisms evoked by the tumor and by amplifying vaccine induction of immunity so that we can make these vaccines more effective,” said
The
The RAGE pathway is involved in various inflammatory and immune responses and plays a role in a wide range of other pathologies including cancer progression. Anti-RAGE agents have the potential to overcome some of the mechanisms that inhibit the body’s immune response against cancer.
About
Portage is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company advancing first-in-class therapies that target known checkpoint resistance pathways to improve long-term treatment response and quality of life in patients with evasive cancers. The Company’s access to next-generation technologies coupled with a deep understanding of biological mechanisms enables the identification of the most promising clinical therapies and product development strategies that accelerate these medicines through the translational pipeline. Portage’s portfolio consists of five diverse platforms, leveraging delivery by intratumoral agents, nanoparticles, liposomes, aptamers, and virus-like particles. Within these five platforms, Portage has 10 products currently in development with multiple clinical readouts expected over the next 12-24 months. Portage is collaborating with Stimunity on the development of STING agonists in a virus-like particle, a unique systemic biological approach that leverages technology licensed from Institut Curie, Inserm, and University of Oxford. Stimunity’s drug candidate, STI-001, is best-in-class, systemically delivered, and enhances anti-tumor T cell response due to its ability to target dendritic cells. For more information, please visit www.portagebiotech.com, follow us on Twitter at @PortageBiotech, or find us on LinkedIn at
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains statements about the Company’s information that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Investor Relations
chuck@lifesciadvisors.com
Media Relations
gschanker@lifescicomms.com
Source: Portage Biotech, Inc.