SOTIO Shares New Preclinical Data on BOXR Platform of Enhanced T Cell Therapies at AACR Annual Meeting

• BOXR data support platform’s ability to improve on CAR T-cell therapy’s efficacy in solid tumor models;
• Additional poster investigates utility of PARP inhibitors in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors

SOTIO Biotech, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company owned by PPF Group, today presented new preclinical data from the Company’s BOXR platform of enhanced T cell therapies, as well as mechanistic research into the immunostimulatory effects of PARP inhibitors, at the 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.

In a poster highlighting SOTIO’s BOXR technology, the Company reported on in vitro and in vivo studies on CAR T cells enhanced with transgenes encoding GOT2 (glutamine oxaloacetate transaminase) and TIGAR (TP53-induced glycolysis and apoptosis regulator), both of which are believed to play a role in T cell fitness in the solid tumor microenvironment. These enhanced CAR T-cell therapies were highly active and showed superior anti-tumor activity in mice bearing Caki-1 tumors, producing a 50% rate of complete tumor regression and a 90% rate of partial tumor regression among 10 mice tested. Compared to conventional CAR T cells and CAR T cells enhanced with GOT2 solely, CAR T cells enhanced with GOT2 and TIGAR showed better tumor infiltration, with more than three times as many tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) observed in the tumor, and fewer signs of exhaustion.

These findings validate the ability of SOTIO’s BOXR platform to produce T-cell and other cell therapies with improved therapeutic qualities, capable of potentially treating challenging solid tumors.

The Company also presented new data on the immunostimulatory role of PARP inhibitors in models of BRCA1-deficient epithelial ovarian cancer. SOTIO researchers found that PARP inhibitors elicit STING-dependent anti-tumor immunity in vitro, and that this translated into improved therapeutic benefit for mouse models treated with a combination of PARP inhibitors and immune-checkpoint inhibitors, compared to mice treated with either therapy alone. At a cellular level, combination therapy positively regulated the balance between adaptive anti-tumor immunity and innate myeloid components and improved the cytotoxic T cell profile. These findings support the potential for combinations of PARP inhibitors and immune-checkpoint inhibitors to be efficacious in treating ovarian cancers.

Both presentations are available below.

AACR2024_poster_SOT302_in_solid_tumors_web.pdf

AACR2024_poster_PARP_in_ovarian_carcinoma_web.pdf