WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.
