Seres Therapeutics Announces Broad Agreement with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to Develop Microbiome Therapeutics for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Immuno-Oncology Treatment
- Agreements provide IP license bolstering Company's strong patent portfolio -
Seres and MSK have agreed to collaborate in two diverse areas of focus related to the discovery and development of microbiome therapeutics: (1) improving the morbidity and mortality outcomes of patients undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) for treatment of cancer, by prevention of Transplant-Related Infections and Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD); and (2) increasing the efficacy and safety of checkpoint inhibitors used for immuno-oncology treatment. Both areas will be targeted using rationally-designed consortia of microbiome bacteria, a technology which Seres has pioneered in other therapeutic areas.
Seres and MSK have agreed to work jointly under a multi-year sponsored research agreement where Seres will collaborate with MSK investigators to study patient samples from MSK clinical studies, generating microbiome metagenomic signatures as well as other clinical data that are expected to aid in the design of novel microbiome therapeutics in these targeted disease states. The agreements also provide Seres with a global license to MSK's intellectual property related to the use of bacterial compositions in treating HSCT patients and related areas, further bolstering Seres' broad existing composition of matter and method of use patent estate.
"MSK scientists have been at the forefront of research into the crucial
role of the microbiome in disease, and we believe our combined insights
and capabilities could be strongly synergistic and pave the way toward
clinically meaningful therapeutic applications for patients with various
cancers and serious conditions related to their treatment," said
In HSCT, MSK investigators, led by
In the area of immuno-oncology, researchers from Seres and MSK will also work together with the goal of discovering precisely how the microbiome could improve the efficacy and safety of immuno-oncology checkpoint inhibitors. This research builds upon a recent MSK publication which describes, for the first time, the important role of the microbiome in the development of immunological adverse events in patients, and related preclinical work showing that the microbiome can enhance the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors.3,4
"We are looking forward to collaborating with Seres, a global leader in the development of microbiome therapeutics, as we work together to advance our collective insights into meaningful clinical advances for patients. Based upon our research in cancer patients as well as animal models at MSK, we believe there is potential to improve patient outcomes by addressing the critical roles of the microbiome," said Dr. van den Brink.
About Seres Therapeutics
About HSCT
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood. The procedure is used as part of the treatment of certain blood cancers. An estimated 22,000 allogeneic HSCT procedures are performed in the US and EU each year. HSCT patients experience elevated mortality risk due to infection, Graft Versus Host Disease (GVHD) and cancer recurrence.
About Immuno-Oncology and Checkpoint Inhibitors
Immuno-oncology treatment uses or enhances the patient's own immune
system to be able to stop the growth of cancer cells. The composition of
a patient's microbiome has been shown to impact this immune response.
Several immuno-oncology checkpoint inhibitors, including nivolumab
(Opdivo®), ipilimumab (Yervoy®) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) are
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements regarding the potential benefits of Seres' collaboration with MSK, the results of clinical studies, the impact of the microbiome on various forms of cancer and the ability for Seres to design Ecobiotic® therapeutic candidates.
These forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important
factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements
to be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements,
including, but not limited to, the following: we have incurred
significant losses, are not currently profitable and may never become
profitable; our need for additional funding, which may not be available;
our limited operating history; the unpredictable nature of our early
stage development efforts for marketable drugs; the unproven approach to
therapeutic intervention of our microbiome therapeutics; the lengthy and
expensive process of clinical drug development, which has an uncertain
outcome; potential delays in enrollment of patients which could affect
the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals; potential delays in
regulatory approval, which would impact the ability to commercialize our
product candidates and affect our ability to generate revenue; any fast
track or Breakthrough Therapy designation may not lead to faster
development, regulatory approval or marketing approval; our possible
inability to receive orphan drug designation should we choose to seek
it; our reliance on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and the
potential for those third parties to not perform satisfactorily; our
reliance on third parties to manufacture our product candidates, which
may delay, prevent or impair our development and commercialization
efforts; our lack of experience in manufacturing our product candidates;
the potential failure of our product candidates to be accepted on the
market by the medical community; our lack of experience selling,
marketing and distributing products and our lack of internal capability
to do so; failure to compete successfully against other drug companies;
potential competition from biosimilars; failure to obtain marketing
approval internationally; post-marketing restrictions or withdrawal from
the market; anti-kickback, fraud, abuse, and other healthcare laws and
regulations exposing us to potential criminal sanctions; recently
enacted or future legislation; compliance with environmental, health,
and safety laws and regulations; protection of our proprietary
technology; protection of the confidentiality of our trade secrets;
changes in
References
1 Jenq R et al., Intestinal blautia Is associated with reduced death from graft-versus-host disease. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2015.
2 Taur Y et al., The effects of intestinal tract bacterial diversity on mortality following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Blood, 2014.
3 Vetizou et al., Anticancer immunotherapy by CTLA-4 blockade relies on the gut microbiota. Science, 2015.
4 Dubin K et al., Intestinal microbiome analyses identify melanoma patients at risk for checkpoint-blockade-induced colitis. Nature, 2016.
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Source:
Seres Therapeutics
Carlo Tanzi, Ph.D., 617-203-3467
Head of
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Ctanzi@serestherapeutics.com