LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA, October 09, 2017 – INmune Bio, Inc., a cancer immunotherapy company focused on developing therapies that harness the patient’s innate immune system to attack their cancer, announced they obtained a license to intellectual property developed by Dr. Nikola Vujanovic, Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Immunology Department of Pathology, and Dr. Lazar Vujanovic, Department of Medicine, both from the University of Pittsburgh. The licensed intellectual property is a novel treatment strategy that targets Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC).
MDSC of the innate immune system are often increased in patients with cancer. The level of MDSC in the blood or the tumor microenvironment predict severity of disease, risk of dying from the cancer and the failure of other immunotherapy treatment strategies such as anti-PDL/PDL1 check point inhibitors. The MDSC secrete immunosuppressive cytokines that protect the tumor from attack by the patient’s immune system. Oncologists agree that strategies that target MDSC number and function are needed to continue to make progress in the treatment of cancer.
RJ Tesi, MD, CEO and co-founder of INmune Bio, commented, “This license allows INmune Bio to become a leader in the targeting of myeloid derive suppressor cells, a cell type that is responsible for many of the failures of modern immunotherapies to treat cancer. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a particular type of immune cells that are generated in abnormally high numbers in patients with various types of cancer.”
“MDSC block the other immune cells from recognizing and eliminating cancer lesions, which results in poor patient outcome. Our unique approach has the ability to eliminate MDSCs and alleviate the related immune suppression without affecting anti-cancer immune functions thus reprogramming and unleashing the patient’s immune system to mediate effective cancer control, support anticancer therapy and improve the patient’s outcome” said Dr. Nikola Vujanovic.
The University of Pittsburgh licensed intellectual property will enhance, INmune Bio’s NK cell priming platform by improving the ability of the patient’s NK cells to see and kill their cancer. INmune Bio has two immune-oncology platforms that re-engineer the innate immune system’s response to cancer. Each platform can be used alone, together or in combination with other cancer therapies in an attempt to control the patient’s cancer.
About INmune Bio: INmune Bio is a private clinical stage biotechnology company developing therapies targeting the innate immune system in cancer. INmune Bio is developing products platforms that reengineer the patient’s innate immune system’s response to their cancer. INmune Bio’s product platforms target residual disease and utilize a precision medicine approach for treatment of a wide variety of hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. To learn more please visit www.inmunebio.com.
INmune Bio Contact:
David Moss, CFO
(858) 964-3720
www.inmunebio.com
University of Pittsburgh Contacts:
For Licensing: Alex Ducruet
Director of Licensing and Intellectual Property
(412) 648-2219
www.innovation.pitt.edu
For Media: Arvind Suresh
Media Relations Manager
412-647-9966
http://www.upmc.com/media/