e-Poster presentation reveals that odetiglucan treatment was observed to restrict liver metastasis in a mouse study

NEW YORK, May 13, 2022 – HiberCell, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapeutic candidates to address therapeutic resistance, cancer relapse and metastasis, has announced the presentation of new preclinical data from a sponsored research study conducted with scientists at the University of Pennsylvania with the Company’s ß-glucan therapeutic candidate, odetiglucan, a Dectin-1, pattern recognition receptor agonist at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022. We believe these data demonstrate odetiglucan’s potential to restrict liver metastasis as observed in a mouse model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The poster, titled, “Beta-Glucan treatment restricts liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer,” was presented as an e-poster at the conference and is available as an abstract to view here.

This preclinical study in pancreatic cancer examined the impact of odetiglucan on liver metastasis outgrowth in mice, evaluating the potential role of macrophage subsets in odetiglucan’s anti-metastatic activity.  Key findings of the study included the following observations from the murine models used in the study:

• Treatment with odetiglucan was observed to inhibit outgrowth of established metastatic colonies;
• Odetiglucan-treated mice exhibited significantly decreased proliferating cancer cells and increased CD3⁺ T cells at the periphery lesions compared to control;
• Odetiglucan was observed to bind resident liver macrophages, otherwise known as Kupffer cells; and
• The activity of odetiglucan treatment was greatest on liver macrophages.

“We are encouraged by the anti-metastatic single agent activity seen in these preclinical studies, given the consequences of liver metastasis in PDAC as well as other cancers,” said Alan Rigby, Ph.D., chief executive officer at HiberCell. “Others have shown that liver metastasis is a poor prognostic factor for several cancers, including melanoma and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). We believe these preclinical data highlight odetiglucan’s potential ability to alter the immunosuppressive microenvironment of the liver, potentially inhibit the growth of liver metastasis and potentially enhance the activity of immunotherapeutic agents in a combination setting.’’

“These in vivo data show the ability of odetiglucan to inhibit liver metastasis in animal tumor models, which further strengthens the clinical potential of odetiglucan as a possible future treatment option for patients with PDAC,” said study lead author Gregory L. Beatty, M.D., Ph.D., an Associate Professor of Hematology/Oncology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “Our future work will investigate the role of liver macrophage subsets in odetiglucan’s activity, refining our learnings about odetiglucan’s intended anti-metastatic mechanism of action.”

For more information about HiberCell’s clinical trials, visit the website at www.HiberCell.com.

About Odetiglucan

Odetiglucan is a Dectin-1, pattern recognition receptor agonist designed to drive a coordinated innate and adaptive anti-cancer immune cell response in metastatic cancers including TNBC, melanoma, and non-small cell lung carcinoma. Phase 2 clinical studies of odetiglucan in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated mechanistic proof-of-concept data including the activation of innate and adaptive immunity that has resulted in clinical benefit for patients.

About HiberCell

HiberCell is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the advancement of novel therapeutics that overcome the foundational molecular barriers that prevent patients from living longer, cancer-free lives. HiberCell’s approach utilizes AI/ML to integrate multi-omic and phenotypic profiles of tumors to generate insights that connect this information to clinical outcomes. By leveraging these data, HiberCell seeks to identify and validate the causal features of cancer that can potentially be targeted with their novel therapeutic candidates with the goal of addressing the most common causes of cancer mortality: resistance, relapse and metastasis. To that end, HiberCell is developing therapeutics designed to resolve the stress-mediated adaptive response that is essential for cancer cell survival.

Penn Financial Disclosure

Dr. Beatty’s laboratory at Penn receives sponsored research funding from HiberCell. Dr. Beatty also may receive financial consideration as a member of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Contacts
Investor Contact:
Westwicke, an ICR Company
Stephanie Carrington
stephanie.carrington@westwicke.com
+1 646-277-1282

Media Contact:
Westwicke, an ICR Company
Terri Clevenger
terri.clevenger@westwicke.com
+1 203-856-4326