ImMAGE Biotherapeutics Announces Positive Results from In Vitro Trials
Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) June 08, 2016 -- ImMAGE Biotherapeutics Corp., an early-stage biotechnology company, announced today they have successfully completed positive in vitro trials and are now undergoing animal testing of multiple leading candidates. ImMAGE is harnessing the power of the immune system to target specific protein, MAGE A, to find a better treatment for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
“After completing in vitro trials, I’m even more confident in our team’s ability to transform groundbreaking research into a tangible patient therapy. All of our results were strong and conclusive -- some even better than we anticipated,” Chief Operating Officer Mahesh Narayanan said. “Right now we’re witnessing an immunotherapy revolution in cancer treatment, especially in the U.S., and we plan to play a big part for TNBC and other cancers as we begin our animal testing phase.”
ImMAGE set out to complete four goals while conducting their in vitro trials, three of which have been successfully achieved while the fourth is currently underway. During these trials, ImMAGE looked at the expression of MAGE A, which also helped determine the best cell lines to work with during animal studies. The company was also able to have their plasmid delivery system verified for proper expression in cells. Finally, they proved that their current candidates exhibited a strong immune response. Their fourth and ongoing goal is to test if the right immune cells are being created to kill the targeted cancer cells. Once this goal is completed, they will have de-risked the candidates as much as possible using in vitro trials.
As ImMAGE begins animal testing, they have broken it down into four phases: immunogenicity/PK, efficacy, toxicology and investigational new drug (IND) enabling studies. By measuring two metrics, tumor load reduction and tumor challenge, their goal is to show that they can reduce a cancer tumor or prevent the tumor from growing, if not both, while minimizing the toxic effects seen in current treatments.
“The projected results, when realized, will allow for the company’s MAGE-A TNBC immunotherapy to enter clinical trials in record time,” states Dr. Anton Dormer, Chief Scientific Officer. “The novel technology design allows for the development of a treatment that is cutting edge, providing hope to thousands of patients.”
With a quicker timeline than projected, ImMAGE plans to file for the FDA’s IND program for approval into Phase 1 human trials in late 2017. The company is also beginning to raise another round of funding in order to continue R&D efforts.
About ImMAGE Biotherapeutics Corporation
Founded in 2015, ImMAGE Biotherapeutics is currently developing multiple viable candidates to treat triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The company’s core group of researchers, based in Washington, DC and Bethesda, MD, have begun animal testing.
The team’s work is rooted in the idea that the human immune system, when manipulated, can heal mutations or growing tumor cells. The immunotherapy market is expected to grow to $17.4 billion and ImMAGE Biotherapeutics’ treatment can be applied to 60 percent of cancer patients. For more information, please visit http://www.immagebio.com.
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Jullieanne Cueto, Slice Communications, +1 (215) 460-4523, [email protected]
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