Kineta expands the company’s immuno-oncology pipeline with the addition of a new monoclonal antibody program targeting CD27

SEATTLE, WA, USA I October 7, 2021 I Kineta, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel immunotherapies in oncology, announced today the presentation of preclinical data on the company’s new immuno-oncology program targeting CD27 at the American Association for Cancer Research Virtual Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy. Thierry Guillaudeux, PhD, Senior Vice President Immuno-oncology at Kineta, presented a poster detailing new preclinical data on the company’s lead anti-CD27 agonist antibodies. 

CD27 is a member of the TNF receptor superfamily and plays a critical role in T-cell activation by providing a co-stimulatory signal together with its ligand CD70. CD27 is highly expressed on naïve T cells and also provides a co-stimulatory signal for NK cell activation. A major challenge in cancer immunotherapy is T cell “exhaustion.” Anti-cancer T cells, through repeated stimulation, begin to lose their cancer-fighting effector functions. Once a T cell is exhausted, further stimulation becomes ineffective. CD27 agonist immunotherapy may reprogram the immune system to generate new and more diverse populations of anticancer “memory” T cells from naïve T cells to elicit a strong anti-tumor response. 

“This is a significant milestone for Kineta as we expand our pipeline with another exciting immuno-oncology antibody program,” said Shawn Iadonato, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Kineta. “Our immuno-oncology strategy is to develop differentiated immunotherapies to address key mechanisms of cancer resistance including immunosuppression, exhausted T cells, and lack of tumor antigens.  CD27 is a promising immunotherapy target to address exhausted T cells and restore anti-tumor T cell function.” 

Key results from the AACR poster presentation include the following:

  • 147 fully human monoclonal anti-CD27 antibodies with unique sequences were generated
  • Kineta’s anti-CD27 antibodies are highly specific and cross-react with cyno-CD27
  • Anti-CD27 agonist assay showed particularly strong induction for eight of the anti-CD27 antibodies
  • Human peripheral blood T cell activation assay showed increased proliferation and cytokine secretion

“We are encouraged with the results of our anti-CD27 antibodies as they performed exceedingly well across multiple preclinical experiments,” said Thierry Guillaudeux, PhD, SVP Immuno-oncology at Kineta. “We are currently in lead selection and will nominate a clinical candidate to advance into IND-enabling studies in 2022.” 

Presentation Details:
Title: A promising cancer immunotherapy target:  Novel fully human agonist antibodies against the human T-cell costimulatory receptor CD27
Date Presented:  October 5-6, 2021
Presenter:  Thierry Guillaudeux, PhD
Poster:  Click on the link below to view the poster:

Kineta CD27 Poster Presentation at AACR Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy

Kineta is a clinical stage biotechnology company with a mission to develop next generation immunotherapies that transform patients’ lives. We have leveraged our expertise in innate immunity to develop first or best-in-class immunotherapies that address the major challenges with current cancer therapy.  For more information on Kineta visit our website, www.kinetabio.com, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

SOURCE: Kineta