Medigene AG: Expitope 3.0 presented at CIMT enables more comprehensive analysis of target antigens for TCR-T therapies

Planegg/Martinsried (pta026/04.05.2023/12:00 UTC+2)

Medigene AG (Medigene, FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard), an immuno-oncology platform company focusing on the discovery and development of T cell immunotherapies for solid tumors, today presents the webtool Expitope 3.0 at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT), taking place May 3-5, 2023, in Mainz, Germany.

The Expitope webtool originates from a long standing collaboration between Medigene Immunotherapies GmbH and Prof. Dmitrij Frishman of the Faculty of Bioinformatics and his research team at the Technical University Munich. Through this joint endeavor, deep academic expertise in sophisticated bioinformatics, is applied for in silico assessment of potential target antigens for T cell receptor engineered T cell (TCR-T) therapies for treatment of solid cancer. The webtool now coupled with artificial intelligence, draws from the vast and continually expanding data on the human genome and proteome of diverse tumors and healthy tissues. This webtool enables Medigene to employ cutting edge in silico technologies to efficiently investigate selected proteins and associated peptide epitopes as suitable targets for use in TCR-T therapies for selected cancer indications.

The poster and oral presentation entitled, "Expitope 3.0 – An Advanced in silico Webtool Empowered with Machine Learning for Enhanced pHLA Epitope Prediction and Safety Assessment" will showcase the latest, publicly available version of Expitope 3.0, a faster and fully revised webtool, which will be launched in May/June 2023, to identify the target peptide HLA (pHLA) epitopes in antigens. Comparing pHLA epitope expression in various healthy tissues allows to predict potential cross-reactivity and off-target toxicity thereby minimizing safety risks.

The poster and the presentation will be available on Medigene's website: https://medigene.com/science/abstracts/

Expitope 3.0 users can identify pHLA epitopes that could be suitable targets for TCR isolation and prediction of pHLA binding affinities as well as related epitopes with up to 50% mismatch for safety evaluation through the assessment of their expression patterns in healthy tissues.

Expitope 3.0 comes with an updated database, screening additionally for unique sequences on peptidome/transcriptome level thereby enlarging the number of screened epitopes. The webtool utilizes machine learning to improve pHLA epitope binding prediction. An improved epitope prediction function provides higher accuracy in determining proteasomal/immunoproteasomal cleavage and presentation of epitopes.

In summary, Expitope 3.0 allows for a quicker analysis with a broader search of databases and higher prediction accuracy of pHLA epitopes in antigens. Its improved features and capabilities make it a valuable tool for researchers and clinicians working to identify potential targets for T cell therapies while minimizing safety risks.

"Antigen selection and assessment of on and off-target specificity is a major challenge in generation of TCR-T therapies. To make such selections and reduce off-target toxicity the identification of suitable epitopes is the first and most critical step for creation of best-in-class TCR-T therapies," said Dolores Schendel, Chief Scientific Officer at Medigene. "Expitope 3.0 is now available through our joint collaboration with Prof. Frishman and his research team to enable us to employ this faster and fully revised webtool encompassing information in greatly expanded owing us not only to screen for unique sequences as potential targets for T cell therapies but also to predict characteristics of peptide interactions with HLA molecules and their safety profiles in healthy tissues. Use of this advanced tool increases understanding of the safety profile needed for generation of highly differentiated TCR-T therapies that can address the unmet needs of patients with diverse solid tumors. We are pleased that this long standing collaboration allowed this updated webtool to be developed to better meet these needs."

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About Medigene

Medigene AG (FSE: MDG1) is an immuno-oncology platform company dedicated to developing T cell therapies to effectively eliminate cancer. Its end-to-end technology platform is built on multiple proprietary product development and product enhancement technologies, and allows Medigene to create best-in-class differentiated, T cell receptor engineered T cell (TCR-T) therapies for multiple solid tumor indications that are optimized for both safety and efficacy. This platform provides product candidates for both its in-house therapeutics pipeline and partnering.

For more information, please visit www.medigene.com

About Medigene's End-To-End Platform

Medigene's immunotherapies help activate the patient's own defense mechanisms by harnessing T cells in the battle against cancer. Medigene's end-to-end platform combines multiple exclusive and proprietary technologies to create best-in-class TCR-T therapies. The platform includes multiple product enhancement technologies, (e.g. PD1-41BB Switch Receptor, Precision Pairing) and development optimization technologies (e.g. Allogeneic-HLA (Allo-HLA) TCR Priming) to aid the development of differentiated TCR-T therapies. Partnerships with multiple companies including BioNTech, 2seventy bio, and Hongsheng Sciences, continue to validate the platform's assets & technologies.

This press release contains forward-looking statements representing the opinion of Medigene as of the date of this release. The actual results achieved by Medigene may differ significantly from the forward-looking statements made herein. Medigene is not bound to update any of these forward-looking statements. Medigene® is a registered trademark of Medigene AG. This trademark may be owned or licensed in select locations only.

Medigene AG

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Phone: +49 89 2000 3333 01
E-mail: investor@medigene.com

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