Genprex Collaborators Report Positive TUSC2 and Checkpoint Blockade Preclinical Data at the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting
TUSC2 Immunogene Therapy Overcomes Resistance to Checkpoint Blockade
AUSTIN, Texas & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— (April 8, 2019) — Genprex, Inc. (NASDAQ: GNPX), a clinical-stage gene therapy company, reported that its collaborators from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (“MD Anderson”) presented positive preclinical data for the combination of the TUSC2 gene with an anti-PD1 antibody, pembrolizumab, for the treatment of lung cancer in a poster presented at the American Association of Cancer Research Meeting 2019. The TUSC2 gene is a tumor suppressor gene, the active agent in Genprex’s Oncoprex™ immunogene therapy.
The poster, entitled “Development of an improved humanized patient-derived xenograft, Hu-PDX, mouse model for evaluation of antitumor immune response in lung cancer” showed that TUSC2 combined with checkpoint blockade was more effective than checkpoint blockade alone in increasing the survival of mice with human immune cells (humanized mice) that had metastatic lung cancer. The TUSC2 treatment with the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab slowed tumor growth significantly. Pembrolizumab previously had no effect on tumor growth in non-humanized mice. The data also demonstrated the Hu-PDX model as an improved platform for evaluation of immunotherapy.
“This sophisticated model gets one step closer to recapitulating certain functions of the human immune response within a manageable scientific animal model and allows us to further test our hypotheses of how a more complex immune system could interact with aggressive cancers when primed by drugs, such as Oncoprex, in humans,” said Julien L. Pham, MD, MPH, President and Chief Operating Officer of Genprex. “These data further support and solidify existing preclinical data showing that Oncoprex immunogene therapy is synergistic with anti-PD1 therapy and could result in a stronger antitumor response compared to either agent alone. It also demonstrates how Oncoprex could be used in combination with other immunotherapies as a viable treatment option for late-stage non-small cell lung cancer.”
Poster Presentation Details:
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 3, 2019 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET
Location: Georgia World Congress Center, Exhibit Hall B
Session: Immunomodulators and Response to Therapy
Title: Development of an improved humanized patient-derived xenograft, Hu-PDX, mouse model for evaluation of antitumor immune response in lung cancer
Authors: Ismail M. Meraz, Mourad Majidi, Feng Meng, RuPing Shao, Min Jin Ha, Shinya Neri, Bingliang Fang, Steven H. Lin, Peggy T. Tinkey, Elizabeth J. Shpall, Jeffrey Morris, Jack A. Roth. UT MD Anderson Cancer Ctr., Houston, TX
Following the AACR annual meeting, the poster will also be made available on Genprex’s website at genprex.com.