Agenus Announces Combination Clinical Trials of its Anti-CTLA4 (AGEN1884) & Anti-PD1 (AGEN2034)

LEXINGTON, Mass., Jan. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with a pipeline of immune checkpoint antibodies and cancer vaccines, today announced the launch of its combination trial with its proprietary anti-CTLA4 (AGEN1884) and anti-PD1 (AGEN2034) antibodies. This Phase 1/2 clinical trial launched in December 2017 and enrollment into the first cohort has been rapidly completed.

The open-label Phase 1/2 study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and clinical activity of combination AGEN1884 and AGEN2034 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The optimal combination dose and schedule will be evaluated in an expansion cohort of patients with inoperable cervical cancer who have relapsed after platinum-containing chemotherapy.

"Speedy advancement of combination trials with our proprietary CTLA-4 and PD-1 antibodies is key to our strategy of commercializing our I-O agents. In addition, we believe both agents are crucial for combinations with our portfolio of proprietary immune oncology therapeutics," said Garo Armen, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Agenus. "Our antibodies were discovered, optimized, manufactured and advanced into the clinic at record speed because of our fully integrated capabilities."

AGEN1884 and AGEN2034 are fully human monoclonal antibodies designed to block cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 or CTLA-4 and programmed death 1 or PD-1, respectively. Other anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 antibodies have demonstrated curative benefits for patients with cancer.  Agenus presented data demonstrating that AGEN1884 and AGEN2034 in combination achieved the desired pharmacologic function and synergy in pre-clinical studies (link).  Agenus has designed a non-exclusive access model for these molecules and is currently in discussions with multiple third parties to rapidly advance more effective combinations for patients suffering from cancer.

Additional information about the trial can be found here.

AGEN1884 and AGEN2034 were developed under a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement between Ludwig Cancer Research, 4-Antibody AG and Recepta Biopharma S.A.

About Agenus
Agenus is a clinical-stage immune-oncology company focused on the discovery and development of therapies that engage the body's immune system to fight cancer. The Company's vision is to expand the patient populations benefiting from cancer immunotherapy by pursuing a number of combination approaches that leverage a broad repertoire of antibody therapeutics and proprietary cancer vaccine platforms. The Company is equipped with a suite of antibody discovery platforms and a state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility with the capacity to support early phase clinical programs. Agenus is headquartered in Lexington, MA.  For more information, please visit www.agenusbio.com; information that may be important to investors will be routinely posted on our website.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding Agenus clinical trial plans and activities, and the anticipated operations and benefits of our programs. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the factors described under the Risk Factors section of our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Agenus cautions investors not to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Agenus undertakes no obligation to update or revise the statements, other than to the extent required by law. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Contact:
Agenus Inc. 
Jennifer Buell, PhD
781-674-4420 
Jennifer.Buell@agenusbio.com

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SOURCE Agenus