XNK Therapeutics announces poster presentations at the 38[th] Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC)
XNK Therapeutics AB (”XNK”) participates in the SITC meeting, which takes place in San Diego, USA, and will present the latest research relating to the company’s leading natural killer (NK) cell therapies. Two abstracts have been accepted for presentation at the meeting.
The first poster, titled Harnessing the Potential of Autologous NK Cells for Immune Therapy of Patients with Advanced Bladder Cancer, describes the successful expansion of autologous NK cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from bladder cancer patients. Results demonstrate that NK cells from patients before and after first line platinum-based chemotherapy can be expanded and activated ex vivo to become cytotoxic against tumor cells.
The second poster, titled Feeder-free Expansion of Autologous Cytotoxic NK Cells for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment, describes the successful expansion and activation of autologous NK cells from PBMCs of diverse cohorts of patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
XNK will be represented at the meeting by Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Anna-Karin Maltais.
The data have been generated in collaboration with XNK’s external partners, Dr. Anders Ullén and Dr. Fernanda Costa Svedman at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, for the bladder cancer study, and Dr. Abhishek Maiti and Dr. Naval Daver at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, USA, for the AML abstract.
For more information, please contact:
Johan Liwing, CEO, XNK Therapeutics
Tel: +46 706 70 36 75
E-mail: johan.liwing@xnktherapeutics.com
About XNK Therapeutics AB
XNK Therapeutics is a clinical stage immunotherapy company focused on bringing new and more effective treatments to cancer patients. The company is at the forefront of autologous NK cell-based cell therapy development with a proprietary technology platform and a pipeline spanning both hematological malignancies and solid tumor indications. The most advanced product, evencaleucel, is in phase II studies in combination with the CD38 antibody isatuximab targeting multiple myeloma. Other programs include XNK02 in AML, currently in advanced preclinical studies in collaboration with MD Anderson Cancer Center and XNK03 in bladder cancer, currently in preclinical studies in collaboration with the Karolinska University Hospital. XNK’s efforts are supported by a dedicated team that include world-renowned NK cell experts and by an approved in-house GMP facility. XNK Therapeutics is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. For more info, please visit http://www.xnktherapeutics.com.
About Bladder Cancer
According to the World Health Organization over 570,000 new cases of bladder cancer was diagnosed in 2020 globally. It is the 4th most common form of cancer in men and the American Cancer Society estimates that bladder cancer will cause over 17,000 deaths in 2022 in US alone. It affects mainly older people with 90% of patients being diagnosed at an age above 55 years. In locally advanced urothelial cancer, which constitutes about 30% of bladder cancers, the 5-year survival rate is below 40% and current treatments may include removal of the entire bladder, radiation, chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors. For metastatic disease the 5-year survival rate is limited to approximately 6% and current standard systemic treatments include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and antibody-drug conjugates.
About Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)
AML is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults. Globally, close to 200,000 new patients are diagnosed and about 150,000 will die from AML each year. In AML, the bone marrow produces a large number of abnormal immature blood cells, so called blasts, that can overcrowd the bone marrow and interfere with the production of healthy mature blood cells. This results in for example infections and anemia. The blasts can also spread to other parts of the body, including the central nervous system. Current treatments include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, stem cell transplantation and targeted therapy such as kinase inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies. The overall outcome for patients remains poor, relapse is common and 5-year survival rates are around 30%.