Immunomic Announces Expansion Of IP Portfolio

Announces Issuance of Patent Related to LAMP-Vax™ Technology

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI), a privately-held, Maryland-based biotechnology company, today announced the issuance of a new United States Patent which extends ITI’s intellectual property portfolio covering their proprietary vectors, including ITI’s out-licensed investigational DNA vaccines. Specifically, U.S. Patent No. 9,499,589 (‘589 Patent) issued on November 22, 2016, entitled “Chimeric Vaccines.”

ITI is focused on developing and applying the investigational LAMP-Vax platform, which is thought to work by leveraging an endogenous human protein called Lysosomal Associated Membrane Protein (LAMP) to traffic antigens to key intracellular processing bodies. In this way, ITI’s vaccines (DNA or RNA) have the potential to utilize the body’s natural biochemistry to develop broad immune responses including antibody production, cytokine release and critical immunological memory. If successful, this approach could put the LAMP-Vax platform at the crossroads of immunotherapies in a number of illnesses, including cancer, allergy and infectious diseases.

Last year, this approach gained the attention of the bioscience community when ITI entered into multiple licensing agreements with Astellas Pharma Inc. These agreements, totaling over $315 million in upfront payments, included significant potential future milestones and royalty payments.

The issuance of the ‘589 Patent extends ITI’s foundational intellectual property portfolio covering specific LAMP vaccine constructs exclusively in-licensed from Johns Hopkins University. As part of license agreement with Astellas, ITI provided Astellas with exclusive rights to the ‘589 Patent family in defined fields which includes allergies. The issued claims of the ’589 Patent are directed to the DNA LAMP-Vax vaccines that are currently being tested in Astellas’ human clinical trials.

“We are pleased with the issuance of this further U.S. Patent, which strengthens our existing intellectual property portfolio. We continually strive to enhance and expand protection around our LAMP-Vax technology platform, which we believe could be a unique approach for treating disease. We are also pleased that this expansion of rights adds further value to our already strong Astellas’ partnership,” said Dr. William Hearl, CEO of Immunomic Therapeutics.

Besides allergies, ITI is also currently developing clinical and preclinical data supporting the use of LAMP nucleic acid constructs in highly immunogenic tumor types. ITI believes that these LAMP constructs could potentially be used to stimulate an immune response to tumor types otherwise capable of evading immune recognition. For example, LAMP-Vax is currently being tested in a Phase II clinical trial as a cancer immunotherapy. ITI believes that these early preclinical and clinical studies may provide a proof of concept for the use of LAMP nucleic acid constructs in cancer, and if successful, set the stage for future studies, including combinations in these tumor types and others, as well as future partnerships with pharmaceutical companies.

About ITI

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately-held, clinical stage biotech company on a mission to pioneer vaccines that transform lives. The company, based in Rockville, MD, is developing nucleic acid vaccines based on the patented Lysosomal Associated Membrane Protein (LAMP) Technology. Termed LAMP-Vax™, the exclusive immunotherapy technology works with the body’s natural biochemistry system and has the potential to improve a broad range of vaccines. ITI entered into a licensing agreement with Astellas Pharma Inc. in 2015 to explore the use of LAMP-Vax in the prevention and treatment of allergic diseases, and is now focused on cancer immunotherapy. The LAMP platform has been tested in Phase I and II clinical studies. For more information, please visit www.immunomix.com.