Wugen Presents Preclinical Data on WU-NK-101 in Solid Tumor Models at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022

September 10, 2022 |

3 min read

Wugen, Inc. presented preclinical data on WU-NK-101, the company’s lead memory natural killer cell therapy product, in a poster session at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2022, taking place in Paris, France from September 9-13, 2022.

WU-NK-101 exhibited enhanced metabolic fitness and adaptability, enabling superior resilience within the immunosuppressive solid tumor microenvironment and preserved cytotoxic function
WU-NK-101 demonstrated robust anti-tumor activity, tumor trafficking, and penetration further augmented by monoclonal antibodies (mAbs)
Data support the clinical development of WU-NK-101 for solid tumor indications

ST. LOUIS & SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Wugen, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of off-the-shelf cell therapies to treat a broad range of hematological and solid tumor malignancies, today presented preclinical data on WU-NK-101, the company’s lead memory natural killer (NK) cell therapy product, in a poster session at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022, taking place in Paris, France from September 9-13, 2022.

“We are pleased to present these data and build on the growing body of evidence validating our best-in-class memory NK cell platform,” said Dan Kemp, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Wugen. “Today’s findings are an important step forward as we continue to advance WU-NK-101 into clinical development for both solid tumors and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).”

“While adoptive cell therapies have proven a powerful tool against hematological cancers, their application to solid tumors has historically been limited by restricted cell trafficking to tumors and the harsh tumor microenvironment (TME),” added Sergio Rutella, M.D., Ph.D., FRCPath, FRSB, Professor of Cancer Immunotherapy at Nottingham Trent University and presenting author. “These findings are highly promising and suggest that memory NK cells can circumvent these challenges, with broad potential therapeutic applications for solid tumors.”

Today’s presentation highlighted the following:

WU-NK-101 exhibited enhanced metabolic fitness and metabolic flexibility, contributing to resilient and enhanced function within the adverse immunosuppressive TME relative to conventional NK (cNK) cells.
WU-NK-101 showed potent cytotoxicity against tumor cells. In vitro, WU-NK-101 in combination with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) demonstrated a statistically significant increase in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity when compared to mAbs alone, which was further validated by significant anti-tumor activity in vivo when compared to WU-NK-101 alone.
WU-NK-101 in combination with mAbs demonstrated robust anti-tumor activity, showing enhanced trafficking, tumor infiltration, and persistence.
These data suggest that WU-NK-101 may overcome the current limitations of adoptive cellular therapies and support its clinical development in the solid tumor setting.

The details of Wugen’s presentation at ESMO are as follows:

Title: WU-NK-101: An Enhanced NK Cell Therapy Optimized for Function in the Tumor Microenvironment (TME)
Abstract Number: 11P
Date and Time: Sunday, September 11, 2022, from 12:00 – 13:00 CEST (6:00 – 7:00 a.m. EDT)
Location: Paris Expo Porte De Versailles, Poster Area, Hall 4

Additional meeting information can be found at https://www.esmo.org/.

About WU-NK-101

WU-NK-101 is a novel immunotherapy harnessing the power of memory natural killer (NK) cells to treat liquid and solid tumors. Memory NK cells are hyper-functional, long-lasting immune cells that exhibit enhanced anti-tumor activity and a cytokine-induced memory-like (CIML) phenotype. This rare cell population has a superior phenotype, proliferation capacity, and metabolic fitness that makes it better suited for cancer therapy than other NK cell therapies. Wugen is applying its proprietary Moneta^TM platform to advance WU-NK-101 as a commercially scalable, off-the-shelf cell therapy for cancer. WU-NK-101 is currently in development for acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and solid tumors.

About Wugen

Wugen, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing the next generation of off-the-shelf memory natural killer (NK) and CAR-T cell therapies for cancer. Wugen is leveraging its proprietary Moneta^TM platform and deep genomic engineering expertise to pioneer a new class of memory NK cell therapies with a cytokine-induced memory-like (CIML) phenotype, uniquely designed to treat hematological and solid tumor malignancies. For more information, please visit www.wugen.com.