AROVELLA AND IMUGENE COLLABORATION ADVANCES TO NEXT PHASE OF TESTING
10 February 2023
AROVELLA AND IMUGENE COLLABORATION ADVANCES TO NEXT PHASE OF TESTING
Highlights:
• Successful in vitro outcome for Arovella’s research collaboration with Imugene
• Arovella to progress to in vivo trials of ALA/IMU drug combination
• Arovella expects results from the second stage of testing to be available mid-2023
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA 10 February 2023: Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: ALA) and Imugene (ASX:IMU)
have achieved a successful outcome from the initial in vitro experiments conducted as part of their research
collaboration. Both companies are pleased to announce that they are progressing the research collaboration
to the next phase of testing.
The positive results show that the combination of Arovella’s CAR19-iNKT cell therapy (ALA-101) and
Imugene’s onCARlytics therapy (CF33-CD19) kills solid tumour cells in vitro. The companies intend to present
this early data at a conference in the near-term. The project's next stage is to test the combination in vivo
(mouse models).
The collaboration with Imugene opens potential new therapeutic targets for ALA-101 in solid tumours and is
an exciting expansion of Arovella’s pipeline. Imugene’s onCARlytics platform induces solid tumour cells to
express CD19 on their surface, allowing them to be targeted by therapies,such as ALA-101, that target cancer
cells through CD19. Solid tumours represent 90% of diagnosed cancer casesi
; as of 2021, the solid tumour
market was valued at US$210 billionii
Arovella’s CEO and MD, Dr Michael Baker, commented: “We are pleased by the first set of data and delighted
to continue the partnership with Imugene and its onCARlytics platform. Combining the two platforms made
sense scientifically and seeing this play out in practise is exciting, given the impact this combination of
therapeutics could have in solid tumours.”
Imugene’s CEO and MD, Leslie Chong, commented: “The data from the initial studies looks promising. We
look forward to capturing the data from the next phase of testing.”
Arovella continues to progress its ALA-101 product towards first in human clinical trials for the treatment of
blood cancers and is working on completing clinical manufacturing and IND-enabling studies.
Release authorised by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Arovella Therapeutics Limited.
Dr Michael Baker
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director
Arovella Therapeutics Ltd
Tel +61 (0) 403 468 187
[email protected]
(20min delay)