OncoSec Announces First Technology Access Program Agreement with Inhibrx
PRNewswire: March 14, 2017 – SAN DIEGO, CA, U.S.A. – OncoSec Medical Incorporated (“OncoSec”) (NASDAQ: ONCS), a company developing DNA-based intratumoral cancer immunotherapies, announced today that they have entered into a technology access program (TAP) agreement with Inhibrx, LP, a privately held biotherapeutic company.
Under the agreement, Inhibrx will use OncoSec’s proprietary gene delivery technologies, the GENESIS™ research generator and proprietary applicators, for preclinical discovery of antibodies.
“We initially announced the availability of the TAP in November, and I am excited to have Inhibrx signed on as the first company to use our devices for their internal research programs,” said Punit Dhillon, OncoSec’s chief executive officer. “We believe this program helps to facilitate discovery efforts for TAP partners while advancing OncoSec’s proprietary technologies. By making our devices available for non-exclusive research use to both industry and academic collaborators, for a small licensing fee, we are building our internal data set around GENESIS™ while expending minimal internal resources.”
“The ability of OncoSec’s TRACE™ technology to optimize in vivo gene expression for animal immunization provides advantages over traditional antibody discovery approaches, especially for difficult to express and complex transmembrane proteins,” said Mark Lappe, Inhibrx’s chief executive officer. “We look forward to continuing to work with OncoSec through our TAP agreement to explore the use of in vivo electroporation for gene delivery and antibody discovery.”
The OncoSec GENESIS™ research generator was developed specifically for gene electro-transfer. It features customizable electroporation parameters for construct-specific optimization of expression, and it is the only in vivo electroporation device enabled with TRACE™ technology (tissue-based, real-time adaptive control electroporation). TRACE™ technology incorporates an electrochemical tissue-sensing control system to automatically adjust pulse width and treatment duration in real time during the electroporation procedure. This feature enables tissue- and therapeutic-specific delivery optimization, maximizing uptake of the therapeutic while reducing unnecessary cell ablation or damage. In research models, GENESIS™ with TRACE™ has yielded higher and more consistent in vivo protein expression versus fixed-parameter electroporation, even in heterogeneous tissues.
Potential advantages of using GENESIS™ with TRACE™ for the objectives of animal immunization include cost savings versus recombinant protein administration, a shortened pre-immunization timeline relative to recombinant protein production, and display of the immunizing antigen in its native conformation. The latter benefit may be particularly relevant for certain therapeutic indications, including immuno-oncology, in which many key targets require functional agonism and/or structurally complex therapeutic modalities such as multimeric forms. To date, OncoSec has generated multiple high-titer antibody libraries against immuno-therapeutic targets.
The OncoSec technology access program makes OncoSec’s electroporation technologies available to collaborators for preclinical research. Devices are available for intratumoral, intradermal, and intramuscular delivery. For more information, please contact bd@oncosec.com.
OncoSec is a biotechnology company developing DNA-based intratumoral immunotherapies with an investigational technology, ImmunoPulse® , for the treatment of cancer. ImmunoPulse® is designed to enhance the local delivery and uptake of DNA-based immune-targeting agents, such as IL-12. In phase I and II clinical trials, ImmunoPulse® IL-12 has demonstrated a favorable safety profile and evidence of anti-tumor activity in the treatment of various solid tumors as well as a systemic immune response. OncoSec’s lead program, ImmunoPulse® IL-12, is currently in clinical development for metastatic melanoma and triple-negative breast cancer. The program’s current focus is on the significant unmet medical need in patients with melanoma who are refractory or non-responsive to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies. In addition to ImmunoPulse® IL-12, the company is also identifying and developing new immunetargeting agents for use with the ImmunoPulse® platform. For more information, please visit www.oncosec.com.
Inhibrx is a clinical stage biologic immunotherapeutic company focused on the treatment of high unmet medical needs in oncology, infectious disease, and inflammatory conditions. Inhibrx’s proprietary platforms enable fit-for-function biotherapeutics that optimally interface with the biology of each target antigen to focus and conditionally modulate immune activities and mediate enhanced signaling. Therapeutic proteins include multispecific and multivalent molecules designed and crafted using our composite modular single domain antibody technology. For more information, visit www.inhibrx.com.
