The focus of most citizens of the world, it’s a fair guess, is on efforts to fight COVID-19 and helping us get on with our lives… out of isolation.
But firm taking its research into another direction is Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. (TSX:MDNA), a clinical stage immunotherapy company with headquarters in Toronto and Houston.
The firm, developing Superkines and Empowered Cytokines, is holding a webcast and conference call, presenting pre-clinical data including non-human primate (NHP) data from its IL-2 Superkine program.
The presentation is highlighting data from the long-acting variant MDNA19, engineered to have enhanced binding to CD122 without binding to CD25. This allows MDNA19 to specifically activate naïve CD8 T cells and natural killer (NK) cells with minimal stimulation of T regulatory cells.
Said CEO Dr. Fahar Merchant, "We are very excited by the overwhelmingly positive data for MDNA19 following our pilot study in NHP which shows that, unlike competing programs, MDNA19 is able to dramatically boost cancer-killing immune cells for an extended duration without underlying safety issues.
“These data are a significant milestone for Medicenna as it paves the way for advancing our IL-2 Superkine program into the clinic next year having successfully closed a $35-million financing last week."
Shares in MDNA ballooned 46 cents, or 17.3%, to $3.12, on volume of 776,000 shares.
