Genprex In-Licenses Additional Gene Therapy Technologies for Treatment of Lung Cancer

 

Source:  Genprex, Inc. 5/6/2021

Amendment to existing worldwide, exclusive license agreement expands Genprex’s oncology franchise

Newly licensed technologies include use of Genprex’s TUSC2 gene therapy combined with EGFR inhibitors or other anti-cancer therapies in patients predicted to be responsive to TUSC2 therapy

Genprex, Inc. (“Genprex” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: GNPX), a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing technologies for patients with cancer and diabetes, today announced that the Company and a major cancer research center in Houston, Texas, in March 2021, entered into an amendment (the “Amendment”) to their May 2020 License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) to grant to Genprex an exclusive worldwide license to an additional portfolio of six patents and one patent application and related technology (“Newly Licensed IP”). The Newly Licensed IP includes methods for treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by administration of a TUSC2 therapeutic in conjunction with EGFR inhibitors or other anti-cancer therapies, in patients who are predicted to be responsive to TUSC2 therapy. A TUSC2 gene-expressing plasmid is the active agent in REQORSA™ immunogene therapy, Genprex’s lead drug candidate. 

“We are pleased to continue optimizing and expanding our world-class intellectual property portfolio with the addition of these technologies,” said Rodney Varner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Genprex. “These new technologies further add to our arsenal of combination therapies for REQORSA, and may enable us to improve patient outcomes through the advancement of multiple therapeutic approaches.” 

About Genprex, Inc.

Genprex, Inc. is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes. Genprex’s technologies are designed to administer disease-fighting genes to provide new therapies for large patient populations with cancer and diabetes who currently have limited treatment options. Genprex works with world-class institutions and collaborators to develop drug candidates to further its pipeline of gene therapies in order to provide novel treatment approaches. The Company’s lead product candidate, REQORSA™ (quaratusugene ozeplasmid), is being evaluated as a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). REQORSA has a multimodal mechanism of action that has been shown to interrupt cell signaling pathways that cause replication and proliferation of cancer cells; re-establish pathways for apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in cancer cells; and modulate the immune response against cancer cells. REQORSA has also been shown to block mechanisms that create drug resistance. In January 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Fast Track Designation for REQORSA for NSCLC in combination therapy with AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso® (osimertinib) for patients with EFGR mutations whose tumors progressed after treatment with Tagrisso.

The Company is preparing to initiate its Acclaim-1 and Acclaim-2 clinical trials for the treatment of NSCLC. Acclaim-1 is an open-label, multi-center Phase 1/2 clinical trial that combines REQORSA with AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso in patients with late-stage NSCLC with mutated epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs), whose disease progressed after treatment with Tagrisso. The Acclaim-2 clinical trial will combine REQORSA with Merck & Co’s Keytruda for late stage NSCLC patients whose disease progressed after treatment with Keytruda.

For more information, please visit the Company’s web site at www.genprex.com or follow Genprex on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.