Corner Therapeutics Debuts with Data Presentation on its Dendritic Cell Hyperactivation Platform at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting

WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Corner Therapeutics, a biotechnology company exploiting a new scientific paradigm to boost memory T cell responses to disease, debuts today with presentation of data on its dendritic cell hyperactivation (hDC) platform at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), taking place November 8-12, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Corner has developed a new therapeutic modality—DC hyperactivators—which induce the production of polyclonal populations of long-lived memory T cells that exhibit durable protective immunity to cancer. Using proprietary chemicals and formulations, Corner’s DC hyperactivators mimic the molecular signals dendritic cells naturally experience during virulent infections.

The resulting hyperactive dendritic cells exhibit migratory capacity that is 30 times greater than what can be elicited by current FDA-approved immunostimulants. This enhanced migration enables far more antigen to be delivered to lymph nodes and a diversification of the resulting T cell responses that mediate protective immunity. DC hyperactivators also induce production of cytokines from dendritic cells that Toll-like Receptor (TLR) and other known immunostimulants cannot elicit, such as the key memory T cell inducing cytokine interleukin-1 (IL-1). The combination of these activities enables Corner’s DC hyperactivators to stimulate human memory T cells 1000 times more effectively than TLR-based dendritic cell stimuli. Preclinical models of cancer revealed that DC hyperactivators diversify the repertoire of antigens that T cells can target and enable mice to eradicate tumors that are resistant to PD-1 based checkpoint blockade.

“We are pleased to be sharing data on the use of Corner’s proprietary immunotherapy platform at SITC’s annual meeting, revealing this new paradigm that can enable a class of immunotherapies,” said Steven M. Altschuler, M.D., CEO and Board Chair of Corner. “Rather than simply enhancing the T cells that patients already have, Corner is exploring therapy that is designed to enable the generation of new and robust inflammatory anti-tumor T cells. This innovation opens the door to the next level of treatment for patients suffering from cancers and infectious diseases.”

Corner’s platform was developed with foundational science that came out of the Kagan and Karp labs at Harvard Medical School. The company has received seed funding from Ziff Capital Partners.

“Dendritic cells are the key to the generation of new and effective T cell responses against cancer, but durable immunity is only achieved if immunotherapies stimulate DCs properly,” said Jonathan Kagan, Ph.D., Scientific Co-founder and Advisor to Corner. “Unlike approaches of the past, Corner’s technology boosts the migration and T cell memory-inducing activities of DCs. These innovations may enable us to realize the common goal of immunotherapies—to protect for life.”

“Corner is moving quickly towards broad, transformative impact on oncology and infectious disease built on a powerful platform,” said Nick Seaver, founding member and Managing Director from Ziff Capital Partners. “We are thrilled to partner with Corner as they advance their therapeutic pipeline toward the clinic.”

SITC Presentations Overview

About Corner Therapeutics, Inc.
Corner Therapeutics is a privately held biotech company developing a new class of multi-purpose dendritic cell-targeting immunotherapies that induce robust memory T cell responses. Corner Therapeutics is exploiting a new scientific paradigm to boost the intelligence of the natural immune response through dendritic cell hyperactivation. Our unique approach engages dendritic cell inflammasomes to induce exceptional memory T cell responses critical for lifelong immunity. Our platform is antigen-agnostic and aims to address an exceptionally wide range of difficult-to-treat cancers and infectious diseases. Corner’s therapy will usher in a new era of rapid, patient-friendly and low-cost treatments able to induce complete and durable protective immunity. Our foundational science originated from the Kagan and Karp labs at the Harvard Medical School and is being advanced by pioneers of immunotherapy. For more information, please visit https://cornertx.com

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