Medigene AG: Three Medigene poster presentations at SITC Annual Meeting

Planegg/Martinsried (pta043/15.10.2020/22:00 UTC+2) Scientists of Medigene AG (Medigene, FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company focusing on the development of T cell immunotherapies, will present three posters at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 35th Annual Meeting (SITC 2020) being held virtually on 9-14 November 2020.

The three poster presentations relate to work on Medigene's clinical and preclinical programs including production feasibility results from the dendritic cell (DC) vaccine Phase I/II clinical trial completed earlier this year, as well as further research describing the activity of the company's PD1-41BB switch receptor and the CD8 co-receptor independence of the company's T cell receptor specific for MAGE-A4.

Full-length abstracts will be published online on 9 November 2020 at 8:00 am EST. Posters will be available in the Virtual Poster Hall on 11-14 November 2020 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST.

Poster details
#161 Development of a CD8 co-receptor independent T cell receptor specific for tumor-associated antigen MAGE-A4 for next generation T cell-based immunotherapy
Kathrin Davari, PHD; Tristan Holland; Laura Prassmayer; Giulia Longinotti; Kenneth Ganley; Lisa J. Pechilis; Iulia Diaconu; Prashant R. Nambiar; Mike S. Magee; Dolores J. Schendel, PhD; Daniel Sommermeyer, PhD; Christian Ellinger, Dr. Rer. Nat.
Q&A sessions:
- Wednesday, 11 November 2020 from 5:15-5:45 pm EST
- Friday, 13 November 2020 from 4:40-5:10 pm EST

#271 Consistent high-quality dendritic cell vaccines produced post-chemotherapy in patients with acute myeloid leukemia for use in a Phase I/II trial
Frauke Schnorfeil; Christiane Geiger, PhD; Iris Bigalke; Dag Josefsen; Yngvar Floisand; Gunnar Kvalheim, MD, PhD; Dolores J. Schendel, PhD; Anna Tafuri; Kai Pinkernell
Q&A sessions:
- Wednesday, 11 November 2020 from 5:15-5:45 pm EST
- Friday, 13 November 2020 from 4:40-5:10 pm EST

#614 Co-stimulation via PD1-41BB chimeric switch receptor enhances function of TCR-T cells in an immune-suppressive milieu and under chronic antigen stimulation
Melanie Salvermoser; Maria Gerget; Franziska Hasselmann; Elfriede Noessner, Prof. Dr.; Christian Ellinger, Dr. Rer. Nat.; Monika Braun; Dolores J. Schendel, PhD; Daniel Sommermeyer, PhD; Nadja Sailer, Dr. rer. nat.
Q&A sessions:
- Thursday, 12 November 2020 from 4:50-5:20 pm EST
- Saturday, 14 November 2020 from 1:00-1:30 pm EST

--- end of press release ---

About Medigene
Medigene AG (FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard, ISIN DE000A1X3W00) is a publicly listed biotechnology company headquartered in Martinsried near Munich, Germany. The company is developing highly innovative immunotherapies to target various forms and stages of cancer. Medigene concentrates on the development of personalized T cell-based therapies, with associated projects currently in pre-clinical and clinical development.
For more information, please visit www.medigene.com

About Medigene's TCR-Ts
TCR-T technology arms a patient's own T cells with tumor-specific T cell receptors. The T cell receptor-modified T cells (TCR-T cells) are then able to detect and efficiently kill tumor cells. This immunotherapy approach attempts to overcome the patient's tolerance towards cancer cells and tumor-induced immunosuppression by activating and modifying the patient's T cells outside the body (ex vivo).
Medigene is conducting a first Phase I/II clinical trial of its TCR-T candidate MDG1011 in the blood cancer indications AML and MDS as well as a second Phase I clinical trial of MDG1021 in patients suffering from relapsed or persistent blood cancer after allogeneic (non-self) hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT). In addition, Medigene is establishing a pipeline of TCRs and has collaborations with bluebird bio, Inc. and Cytovant Sciences HK Ltd. addressing solid tumor indications.

About Medigene's DC vaccines
In addition to Medigene's development focus on T cell-receptor modified T cells (TCR-Ts), the Company has developed a new generation of antigen-tailored dendritic cell (DC) vaccines.

Dendritic cells (DC) can take up antigens, process them and present peptides on their surface in a form that can induce antigen-specific T cells to mature and proliferate. In this way, T cells recognize and eliminate tumor cells which bear the same antigen peptide on their surface. Dendritic cells can also induce natural killer cells (NK cells) to attack tumor cells. The scientific team of Medigene has developed new, fast and efficient methods for generating autologous (patient-specific) mature dendritic cells which have the relevant characteristics to generate very strong T cell and NK cell immune responses. The dendritic cells can be loaded with various tumor antigens to treat different forms of cancer. Since an immune response builds up over the total time of administration of the DC vaccine, this form of therapy is particularly designed for patients who suffer from a tumor disease which has been reduced to such an extent by chemotherapy that the prevention of the recurrence of the tumor disease is the main goal.

About Medigene's PD1-41BB switch receptor
Checkpoint inhibition via PD1-PDL1 pathway: Solid tumor cells are known to be sensitive to killing by activated T cells. Tumor cells can escape this killing activity by expressing inhibitory molecules, so-called 'checkpoint proteins', such as Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1) on their surface. When this occurs, activated T cells which express PD-1, the natural receptor for PD-L1, are inactivated. The expression of PD-L1 by tumors represents an adaptive immune resistance mechanism that can lead to tumor survival and growth.

The 4-1BB co-stimulatory signaling pathway: Effective T cell immune responses to antigens typically require costimulatory signals to be received alongside the primary antigenic stimulation via the T cell receptor (TCR). The intracellular signaling domains of the 4-1BB protein offer a well-characterized pathway to positively enhance T cell responses.

Medigene's PD1-41BB switch receptor takes advantage of the binding of PD-1 on the T cells to PD-L1 on tumors. In the switch receptor, the inhibitory signaling domain of PD-1 has been substituted with the activating signaling domain of 4-1BB. As a result, the switch receptor then delivers an activating signal to the TCR-T cells (not the usual inhibitory signal of PD-1). This enables the PD1-41BB-modified TCR-T cells to proliferate strongly in the presence of PD-L1-positive tumor cells and to mediate greater killing of tumor cells upon repeated exposure. Additionally, signals mediated through the switch receptor also enhance metabolic fitness of TCR-T cells, enabling better function in conditions of low levels of glucose or high levels of the immunosuppressive factor TGFß, two conditions that are characteristic of strongly hostile tumor microenvironments.

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
Dr. Gary Waanders, Dr. Anna Niedl
Phone: +49 89 2000 3333 01
e-mail: investor@medigene.com

LifeSci Advisors
Mary-Ann Chang
Phone: +44 7483 284 853
e-mail: mchang@lifesciadvisors.com

In case you no longer wish to receive any information about Medigene, please inform us by e-mail (investor@medigene.com). We will then delete your address from our distribution list.

(end)

Emitter:	Medigene AG Lochhamer Straße 11 82152 Planegg/Martinsried Germany
Contact Person:	Medigene PR/IR
Phone:	+49 89 2000 3333 01
E-Mail:	investor@medigene.com
Website:	www.medigene.de
ISIN(s):	DE000A1X3W00 (Share)
Stock Exchange(s):	Regulated Market in Frankfurt; Free Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate