Medicenna Presents Updated Preclinical Data on MDNA113, a First-in-Class, Targeted and Masked Bi-functional anti-PD1-IL2 Superkine, at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

 MDNA113 is targeted to the tumor site where it is activated to simultaneously deliver two immunotherapies, an IL-2 superkine and anti-PD1 antibody, to the same cancer fighting immune cells in the tumor micro-environment (TME) to maximize efficacy and minimize systemic toxicity

MDNA113 is our most advanced pre-clinical candidate that targets IL-13Rα2, a tumor associated antigen, which is overexpressed by immunologically “cold” tumors with high unmet needs in pancreatic, prostate, ovarian, breast and brain cancer affecting over two million patients every year

TORONTO and HOUSTON, April 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. (“Medicenna” or the “Company”) (TSX: MDNA), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on the development of Superkines, today announced new preclinical data on MDNA113, the Company’s novel T-MASK (Targeted Metallo/protease Activated SuperKine) candidate, an IL-13R⍺2 (Interleukin-13 receptor alpha2) specific superkine featuring unique masking and tumor targeting characteristics, were presented at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) held in San Diego, CA, on April 9^th, 2024.

“We are pleased to show preclinical data demonstrating the ability of Medicenna’s first T-MASK candidate, MDNA113 to enhance tumor accumulation and tolerability of our potent bi-functional immune modulator, anti-PD1-IL-2^SK,” said Fahar Merchant, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Medicenna. “MDNA113 has novel features, including the tunable blockade of the IL-2R agonism to reduce peripheral immune stimulation for enhanced tolerability, and tumor targeting to IL-13R⍺2 which is linked to aggressive cancers that annually affect over 2 million patients world-wide. The cleavage and release of the IL-13 tumor-targeting/masking domain by matrix metalloproteases restores IL-2R signaling within the tumor microenvironment, thereby benefiting from the simultaneous and synergistic activity of IL-2R agonism and immune checkpoint blockade at the tumor site.”

The Company selected MDNA113, a novel, first-in-class tumor-targeted and tumor-activated bi-functional anti-PD1-IL-2 superkine with high selectivity and affinity for IL-13Rα2, a tumor associated antigen expressed in many aggressive solid tumors. The IL-13 Superkine (MDNA213) is a highly specific tumor-targeting/masking domain which is fused via a protease sensitive linker to a bi-functional immunotherapy domain (MDNA223) containing an IL-2 Superkine fused to an anti-PD1 antibody.