ImaginAb Inc, a leading global provider of immuno-oncology imaging agents and NEUVOGEN, an immuno-oncology company developing next generation therapeutic whole cell cancer vaccines, announced they have signed a multi-year non-exclusive licensing agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement, ImaginAb will work with NEUVOGEN to implement clinical doses of 89Zr CD8 Immuno-PET imaging agents into their therapeutic vaccine clinical trials, and provide technical and clinical support to NEUVOGEN’s development teams. ImaginAb will receive license fees and other contingent payments. No other terms were disclosed.
ImaginAb’s PET imaging technology enables tracking and quantitative imaging of CD8 T cells in cancer patients, enabling confirmation of drug mechanism and indication of the cancer immunotherapies’ efficacy. Previous clinical studies have shown the clinical relevance of ImaginAb’s 89Zr CD8 Immuno-PET imaging agent, and the use of these imaging data sets potentially contributes to improving the standard of care in immune-oncology therapies. The company’s goal is to enable widespread use and adoption of 89Zr CD8 Immuno-PET technology.
ImaginAb’s CEO, Ian Wilson, commented: “We are delighted and very excited to work with NEUVOGEN and support the clinical development of their novel therapeutic cancer vaccine candidates. CD8 T cells play a pivotal role in cancer immunotherapy and our clinical studies have shown our 89Zr CD8 Immuno-PET imaging agent tracks and quantifies CD8 T cells in patients. We believe combining CD8 imaging with NEUVOGEN’s whole cell cancer vaccines will enable more robust clinical data sets and accelerate the development of novel treatment protocols for solid tumors.”
NEUVOGEN’s next-generation whole cell cancer vaccines are designed to simultaneously prime the broadest array of tumor targets, impacting multiple biologic pathways with the goal of directing an immune response against overlapping targets on every cell within a tumor. ImaginAb’s T Cell specific PET imaging technology allows the NEUVOGEN team to visualize Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes, and monitor the dynamics of CD8 T cells in response to its novel cancer vaccine therapies, without the need for multiple tumor biopsies.
“This agreement provides NEUVOGEN access to highly specific and precise imaging of the presence of CD8 T Cells in solid tumors over time.” said Todd Binder, Chief Executive Officer, NEUVOGEN. “ImaginAb’s 89Zr CD8 Immuno-PET imaging agent will help our development teams determine changes in CD8 T cell tumor infiltrates induced by NEUVOGEN’s therapies, an important indicator of a patient’s successful immune response to our vaccine therapy.”
About ImaginAb
ImaginAb Inc. is a market leading biotechnology company focused on developing radiopharmaceutical imaging and therapy agents. ImaginAb engineers antibody fragments called minibodies that maintain the exquisite specificity of full-length antibodies while remaining biologically inert in the body. Used with widely available PET scan technology, these novel minibodies illuminate high-value molecular targets, providing physicians with a whole-body picture of immune activity. ImaginAb is advancing a pipeline of minibodies against oncology and immunology targets including the 89Zr CD8 ImmunoPET targeting CD8 T cells. ImaginAb’s products have the potential to improve patient care and lower healthcare costs. The Company is backed by top tier venture capital firms and strategic corporate firms including, Adage Capital, The Cycad Group, Norgine ventures Jim Pallotta of the Raptor Group, The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and Merck (MSD) Pharma.
