Noxopharm adds to cancer treatment pipeline with positive new study results

• Proof-of-principle that technology helps initiate immune response
• Data validates company’s immune-amplifying oligonucleotides
• Supports combination strategy with existing standard-of-care cancer therapies

Noxopharm (ASX:NOX) has received new preclinical data demonstrating the potential of its cancer-fighting technology and found it initiates immune response with normally ‘immune-silent’ cellular ribonucleic acid (RNA).

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Earlier this year, Noxopharm and its collaborators published research in Nature Immunology showing how this ‘immune-silencing’ RNA works to limit immune system activation. The team also identified a way to counter this effect by boosting the activity of Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8), a key sensor that helps the immune system recognise potential threats.

In the latest study, Noxopharm’s oligonucleotides, which are short synthetic RNA sequences, helped the immune system recognise and respond to cellular RNA that would normally go unnoticed.

The company believes this breakthrough could pave the way for a new type of cancer treatment that works alongside existing therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, to help the immune system better initiate its anti-cancer response.

The immune response to cellular RNA containing ‘immune-silencing’ RNA was tested in vitro with and without one of Noxopharm’s TLR8-amplifying oligonucleotides. As expected, the RNA alone failed to activate a TLR8-driven immune response.

However, when combined with the TLR8-amplifying oligonucleotide, the same RNA induced a strong TLR8-mediated immune response that exceeded fourfold the level observed in untreated cells.

The new data identified the potential of Noxopharm’s TLR8-potentiating oligonucleotides strategy to unblind immune cells to cancer RNA and unleash immune activation.

The study was carried out in collaboration with Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Noxopharm’s key strategic partner in the development of the Sofra technology platform.

Noxopharm CEO, Dr Olivier Laczka, said the company is encouraged by the new findings as they significantly broaden the potential applications of our TLR8-potentiating technology.

“We have now shown that the technology enables TLR8 activation in response to the sensing of RNA, which has potentially significant benefits given that cancer patients around the world are already being treated with cancer cell-killing therapeutics,” he said.

“There is an elegant scientific symmetry across our pipeline. In oncology, our TLR8-potentiating oligonucleotides seek to enhance immune recognition of RNA released following cancer cell death.

“In autoimmune disease, our inhibitory oligonucleotides are designed to suppress inappropriate immune activation driven by self-RNA. Together, these programs demonstrate our ability to modulate the same innate immune pathway in opposite directions to address very different diseases.”

NOX was steady at 7.9¢ with a Mkt cap of $24.27M prior to markets opening.

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