Benzinga | Mar 25, 2021 07:01AM EDT

Medicenna To Present Preclinical Data On MDNA11 With Anti-PD-1 Therapy And Unveil Novel Bifunctional Superkines At Cytokine-Based Cancer Immunotherapies Summit

-- MDNA11 and anti-PD-1 combination leads to complete responses in a murine solid tumor model



-- Preclinical data demonstrates the potential of BiSKITsTM (Bi-functional SuperKine ImmunoTherapies) to effectively target immunologically "cold" tumors

TORONTO and HOUSTON, March 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. ("Medicenna" or "the Company") (NASDAQ:MDNA, TSX:MDNA), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company, today announced an upcoming oral presentation of preclinical data on the Company's Superkine platform programs. The presentation will take place today, March 25, 2021 at 2:25 pm ET at the virtual Cytokine-Based Cancer Immunotherapies Summit.

The presentation will feature preclinical data on MDNA11, a long-acting IL-2 Superkine that preferentially binds the IL-2 beta receptor (IL-2R?) on immune cells, as well as an overview of Medicenna's Bi-functional SuperKine ImmunoTherapies (BiSKITsTM) program, which includes engineered interleukins designed to target immunologically "cold" tumors.

"Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments (TMEs) often limit the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors, highlighting an unmet need for new therapeutic agents that can induce an anti-cancer immune response and overcome immunotherapy resistance mechanisms," said Fahar Merchant, PhD, President and CEO of Medicenna. "New data show that MDNA11 monotherapy or when combined with anti-PD-1 therapy stimulated potent immune responses in preclinical tumor models highlighting the potential of our Superkine platform to address this need. This capability is further highlighted by results related to our BiSKITsTM program, which demonstrates the ability of an IL-13 super-antagonist to suppress the TME known to promote cancer growth. By linking the IL-13 super-antagonist with an IL-2 super-agonist via a protein scaffold, we have generated a novel long acting dual specific cytokine designed to simultaneously activate anti-cancer immune cells while mitigating the immunosuppressive effects of the TME. We plan to present additional data on our IL-2/IL-13 dual specific cytokine next month, which may further validate the versatility of our Superkine platform."

The oral presentation, titled "Designer Cytokines" will be given by Dr. Merchant today, March 25, 2021 at 2:25 pm ET. Dr. Merchant will also participate in a live Q&A session at 3:05 pm ET today. Those interested in viewing the live presentation or participating in the Q&A session can register for the Cytokine-Based Cancer Immunotherapies Summit here.

Highlights from the presentation include:

* Treatment with MDNA11 alone or in combination with anti-PD-1 therapy led to tumor growth inhibition and complete responses in a murine MC38 tumor model. Tumor growth was not inhibited by anti-PD-1 monotherapy.

* Preclinical data demonstrate the ability of MDNA413, an IL-13 super-antagonist, to suppress myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and M2a polarization of tumor associated macrophages, which are known to accumulate in the TME and promote cancer growth.

* A novel DUal CytoKine asset (DUCK CancerTM) designed to simultaneously stimulate a pro-inflammatory, anti-cancer (Th1) response through IL-2 activation while inhibiting IL-4/IL-13 signaling to suppress the anti-inflammatory (Th2) response is described. Data on the IL-2/IL13 DUCK will be presented next month at the AACR Annual Meeting 2021.

A copy of slides from the oral presentation will be posted to the "Events and Presentations" page of Medicenna's website.