BOSTON, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Elicio Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELTX, “Elicio” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it will host a virtual key opinion leader (“KOL”) event on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM ET to discuss the significant unmet need and current treatment landscape for mutant-KRAS (“mKRAS”) driven pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (“PDAC”), one of the most lethal and underserved solid tumors. To register, click here.
The event will feature insights from leading experts:
- Darrell Irvine, Ph.D. - Department of Immunology & Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Eileen O’Reilly, M.D. - FASCO Gastrointestinal Medical Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
The event will provide an overview of Elicio's proprietary lymph node-targeting amphiphile (“AMP”) platform, which underpins a pipeline of novel immunotherapies designed to generate potent and durable immune responses. The discussion will also focus on Elicio’s lead product candidate, ELI-002, an AMP-powered therapeutic vaccine designed to overcome immune evasion. ELI-002 is currently being evaluated in a randomized Phase 2 trial for the adjuvant treatment of mKRAS-driven PDAC, and an event-driven disease-free survival interim analysis of the study is anticipated in Q3 2025.
A live question and answer session will follow the formal presentations.
About Darrell Irvine, Ph.D.
Darrell Irvine, Ph.D., is a Professor at the Scripps Research Institute, where he recently relocated after 20 years as a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is the co-founder of Elicio and serves on the steering committee of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. His research is focused on the application of engineering tools to problems in cellular immunology and the development of new materials for vaccine and drug delivery. The major focus of his laboratory is directed toward vaccine development for HIV and cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Irvine’s work has been recognized by numerous awards, including election as a Member of the National Academy of Medicine, Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and appointment as an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is the author of over 200 publications, reviews, and book chapters, and an inventor on numerous patents.
About Eileen M. O’Reilly, M.D., FASCO
Eileen M. O’Reilly, M.D., FASCO, holds the Winthrop Rockefeller Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). She serves as the Section Head for Hepatopancreaticobiliary/ Neuroendocrine Cancers, Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Co-Director Medical at the David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer, and is an Attending Physician and Member at MSK and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. O’Reilly received her medical degree from Trinity College in Ireland. She completed her postgraduate training in Ireland and subsequent Hematology/Oncology Fellowship training at MSK. Dr. O’Reilly is a clinical scientist whose research focuses on the integration of molecular and genetic-based therapies for pancreatic cancer, along with the development of adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatments and identification of biomarkers for therapy selection. Dr. O’Reilly teaches and mentors junior faculty, oncology fellows, residents, and medical/other students and has numerous teaching and other awards. Dr. O’Reilly is the Principal Investigator of multiple phase I, II, III trials in pancreatic cancer. She has a H-index >100 and >40,000 citations. She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Senior Editor for several AACR journals and has served on multiple grant review panels including, for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), NIH, DOD, and various international entities. She is PI of the MSK P50 Pancreas Specialized Program in Oncology Research Excellence (SPORE), an NCI-funded team science grant. Dr. O’Reilly is the recipient of numerous awards, including Castle Connolly Top Doctor for two decades, Burkitt Medal (TCD) in 2022, Giants of Cancer Care GI Oncology, 2023, Whitman award in 2025. Dr. O’Reilly’s other responsibilities include Chair of the Human Research Protection Program and Institutional Review & Privacy Board (IRB). Nationally, Dr. O’Reilly is Co-Chair of the NCI Alliance Co-Operative Group Gastrointestinal Cancers Committee and serves on the NCI Gastrointestinal Cancers Steering Committee (GISC) and in leadership roles in several advocacy organizations, including the National Pancreas Foundation, Hirshberg Foundation, PanKind and Pancreas Cancer Action Network.
About Elicio Therapeutics
Elicio Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ELTX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel immunotherapies for the treatment of high-prevalence cancers, including mKRAS-positive pancreatic and colorectal cancers. Elicio intends to build on recent clinical successes in the personalized cancer vaccine space to develop effective, off-the-shelf vaccines. Elicio’s AMP technology aims to enhance the education, activation and amplification of cancer-specific T cells relative to conventional vaccination strategies, with the goal of promoting durable cancer immunosurveillance in patients. Elicio’s ELI-002 lead program is an off-the-shelf vaccine candidate targeting the most common KRAS mutations, which drive approximately 25% of all solid tumors. Off-the-shelf vaccine approaches have the potential benefits of low cost, rapid commercial scale manufacturing, and rapid availability of drug to patients especially in neo-adjuvant settings and for prophylaxis in high-risk patients, contrary to personalized vaccines approaches. ELI-002 is being studied in an ongoing, randomized clinical trial in patients with mKRAS-positive pancreatic cancer who completed standard therapy but remain at high risk of relapse. ELI-002 also has been studied in patients with mKRAS-positive colorectal cancer (“CRC”) in Phase 1 studies. The updated AMPLIFY-201 Phase 1 data for PDAC and CRC was presented at the ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress 2024 and included a 16.3-month median recurrence-free survival and 28.9-month median overall survival for the full study population. In the future, Elicio plans to expand ELI-002 to other indications including mKRAS positive lung cancer and other mKRAS positive cancers. Elicio’s pipeline includes additional off-the-shelf therapeutic cancer vaccines candidates, including ELI-007 and ELI-008, that target BRAF-driven cancers and p53 hotspot mutations, respectively. For more information, please visit www.elicio.com.
About ELI-002
Elicio’s lead product candidate, ELI-002, is a structurally novel investigational AMP cancer vaccine that targets cancers that are driven by mutations in the KRAS-gene—a prevalent driver of many human cancers. ELI-002 is comprised of two powerful components that are built with Elicio’s AMP technology consisting of AMP-modified mutant KRAS peptide antigens and ELI-004, an AMP-modified CpG oligodeoxynucleotide adjuvant that is available as an off-the-shelf subcutaneous administration.
ELI-002 2P (2-peptide formulation) has been studied in the Phase 1 (AMPLIFY-201) trial in patients with high relapse risk mKRAS-driven solid tumors, following surgery and chemotherapy (NCT04853017). ELI-002 7P (7-peptide formulation) is currently being studied in a Phase 1/2 (AMPLIFY-7P) trial in patients with mKRAS-driven pancreatic cancer (NCT05726864). The ELI-002 7P formulation is designed to provide immune response coverage against seven of the most common KRAS mutations present in 25% of all solid tumors, thereby increasing the potential patient population for ELI-002.
About the Amphiphile Platform
Elicio’s proprietary AMP platform delivers investigational immunotherapeutics directly to the “brain center” of the immune system – the lymph nodes. Elicio believes this site-specific delivery of disease-specific antigens, adjuvants and other immunomodulators may efficiently educate, activate and amplify critical immune cells, potentially resulting in induction and persistence of potent adaptive immunity required to treat many diseases. In preclinical models, Elicio observed lymph node-specific engagement driving therapeutic immune responses of increased magnitude, function and durability. Elicio believes its AMP lymph node-targeted approach will produce superior clinical benefits compared to immunotherapies that do not engage the lymph nodes based on preclinical studies.
Elicio’s AMP platform, originally developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has broad potential in the cancer space to advance a number of development initiatives through internal activities, in-licensing arrangements or development collaborations and partnerships.
The AMP platform has been shown to deliver immunotherapeutics directly to the lymph nodes by latching on to the protein albumin, found in the local injection site, as it travels to lymphatic tissue.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this communication regarding matters that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, known as the PSLRA. These include statements regarding expectations about Elicio’s financial and operating results; Elicio’s planned clinical programs, including the timing and outcome of planned clinical trials; the timing of the expected interim analysis of the Phase 2 AMPLIFY-7P clinical trial; the potential of Elicio’s product candidates; the potential impact of ELI-002 in PDAC; the potential for future expansion of ELI-002 to other indications; the potential benefits and effectiveness of off-the-shelf vaccine approaches; and other statements regarding management’s intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or forecasts for the future and, therefore, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on them. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those projected. Elicio undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law. We use words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,” “expects,” “projects,” “future,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” “guidance,” and similar expressions to identify these forward-looking statements that are intended to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA. Such forward-looking statements are based on our expectations and involve risks and uncertainties; consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the statements due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, Elicio’s financial condition, including its anticipated cash runway, and ability to obtain the funding necessary to advance the development of ELI-002 and any other future product candidates, and Elicio’s ability to continue as a going concern; Elicio’s plans to develop and commercialize its product candidates, including ELI-002; the timing of initiation of Elicio’s planned clinical trials; the timing of the availability of data from Elicio’s clinical trials, including the interim analysis from the Phase 2 AMPLIFY-7P trial expected in the third quarter of 2025; the timing of any planned investigational new drug application or new drug application; Elicio’s plans to research, develop and commercialize its current and future product candidates; and Elicio’s estimates regarding future revenue, expenses, capital requirements and need for additional financing.
New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all such factors, nor can we assess the impact of each such factor on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. These risks are more fully discussed in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 31, 2025, under the heading “Risk Factors” and any subsequent reports and other documents filed from time to time with the SEC. Forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to Elicio as of the date of this release. Elicio does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release, except to the extent required by law.
Investor Relations Contact
Brian Ritchie
LifeSci Advisors
(212) 915-2578
britchie@lifesciadvisors.com
