Palleon Pharmaceuticals Announces Preclinical Data from EAGLE Platform to be Presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Annual Meeting
WALTHAM, Mass., November 8, 2018 – Palleon Pharmaceuticals, a leading biotech company focused on developing drugs that target Glyco-Immune Checkpoints to treat cancer, today announced that the company will present preclinical data from its EAGLE platform at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC) Annual Meeting, in Washington, D.C.
Palleon’s EAGLE platform enables the development of drugs that inhibit Glyco-Immune Checkpoints by disabling the immunosuppressive function of tumor cell surface glycans. The critical challenge in this area arises from the complexity, heterogeneity and rapidly evolving nature of the tumor glycans. Palleon’s EAGLE platform employs an enzyme/antibody bi-specific construct, which removes terminal sialic acids, the molecules that are responsible for suppressing the immune system, from cancer cell surface glycans in the tumor micro-environment. This enzymatic approach uniquely overcomes tumor glycan heterogeneity and makes tumors vulnerable to both innate and adaptive immune responses.
“Palleon’s EAGLE platform has allowed us to develop a first-in-class therapeutic modality that enhances both the innate and adaptive responses to cancer, which is critical for targeting patients who are resistant to current therapies,” said Jim Broderick, M.D., chief executive officer and founder of Palleon. “In addition, the EAGLE platform is robust and adaptable, and it can turn any existing targeted antibody therapy into a potent immuno-oncology agent.”
Poster #037, titled, “A New Immunomodulatory Strategy of Inhibiting Glyco-Immune Checkpoints Using EAGLE Technology” will be on display in Hall E. Presentation hours are Friday, November 9 from 12:45 – 2:15 p.m. and 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. ET. Li Peng, Ph.D., vice president, biotherapeutics discovery at Palleon, will make an oral presentation on Sunday, November 11 at 9:25 a.m. ET during SITC’s Next Generation Bispecifics and Antibody-Like Molecules session.
Additionally, Poster #676, from Palleon’s Scientific Advisory Board member, Heinz Läubli, titled, “Targeting the Sialoglycan/Siglec Pathway in Combination with Checkpoint Inhibitors for Cancer Immunotherapy” will be on display in Hall E. Presentation hours are Saturday, November 10 from 12:20 – 1:50 p.m. and 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
About Glyco-Immune Checkpoints
Cancer uses multiple pathways to evade the immune system, and Glyco-Immune Checkpoints are a significant and under-appreciated axis of immunosuppression in cancer. Tumors exploit Glyco-Immune Checkpoints through the alteration of glycans on the surface of their cells, impairing both innate and adaptive immune cells and resulting in a broad, comprehensive suppression of the anti-tumor immune response. Glyco-Immune Checkpoints had been overlooked relative to other anti-cancer strategies due to the complexity of glycoscience, and, until recently, the lack of scientific tools to demonstrate its relevance to immuno-oncology. Palleon has assembled the technologies needed to overcome these barriers and make drug development in this field possible.
About Palleon Pharmaceuticals
Palleon Pharmaceuticals is the leading biotechnology company focused on developing drugs that target Glyco-Immune Checkpoints to treat cancer. The company’s proprietary EAGLE, CONVERGENCE and HYDRA platforms integrate technologies and insights from world-renowned scientific leaders in the fields of glycoscience and human immunology to create a novel approach to treating cancer. By targeting multiple immune cell types, Glyco-Immune Checkpoint inhibition will tackle resistance to existing immuno-oncology agents and make possible a wider range of rational combination therapies to treat cancer. Palleon has several cancer drug discovery programs underway. Beyond oncology, other important areas where Glyco-Immune Checkpoints may play a role include infectious diseases, neurodegeneration, inflammation, and fibrosis. The company is advancing its pipeline and development programs with a $47.6 million Series A financing from leading biotech venture investors SR One, Pfizer Ventures, Vertex Ventures HC, Takeda Ventures, and AbbVie Ventures. Learn more at www.palleonpharma.com.
Palleon Media Contact
Krystle Gibbs
Ten Bridge Communications
krystle@tenbridgecommunications.com
(508) 479-6358