CHICAGO & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Exicure, Inc. (NASDAQ: XCUR), the pioneer in gene regulatory and immunotherapeutic drugs utilizing spherical nucleic acid (SNA™) constructs, will present at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Virtual Annual Meeting II, occurring June 22 – 24, 2020.

The AACR poster, by the AST-008 Phase 1b/2 study investigators and Exicure, titled “Phase 1b/2 Study of an Intratumoral TLR9 Agonist Spherical Nucleic Acid (AST-008) and Pembrolizumab: Evidence of Immune Activation” will present updated pharmacodynamic and safety data of AST-008 alone and in combination with pembrolizumab from Exicure’s ongoing Phase 1b/2 study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03684785). AST-008 is a novel SNA configuration of a toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist oligonucleotide, designed to trigger anti-tumor immune responses.

Data to be presented include:

• Gene expression analysis from biopsied tumors, showing trends to increased lymphocytes in the injected tumor after intratumoral (IT) AST-008 and in both injected and un-injected tumors after IT AST-008 plus pembrolizumab combination therapy
• Dose dependent activation of key immune cells and immune system signal proteins (cytokines/chemokines) after IT AST-008 treatment and AST-008 plus pembrolizumab treatment
• An emerging safety profile consisting of mostly injection site reactions and flu-like symptoms, likely reflecting local and systemic immune activation
• No AST-008-related serious adverse events or dose limiting toxicity have been reported

This poster will be presented during the AACR Virtual Meeting II in the session Late-Breaking Research: Clinical Research 1 / Endocrinology under abstract number LB-140. The poster will be available for viewing starting on June 22nd.

About Exicure, Inc.

Exicure, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapeutics for neurology, immuno-oncology, inflammatory diseases and genetic disorders based on our proprietary Spherical Nucleic Acid, or SNA technology. Exicure believes that its proprietary SNA architecture has distinct chemical and biological properties that may provide advantages over other nucleic acid therapeutics and may have therapeutic potential to target diseases not typically addressed with other nucleic acid therapeutics. Exicure is in preclinical development of XCUR-FXN, an SNA–based therapeutic candidate for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). Exicure's drug candidate AST-008 is currently in a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors. Exicure is based outside of Chicago, IL and also has an office in Cambridge, MA. For more information, visit Exicure’s website at www.exicuretx.com.

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