Aduro Biotech Expands Leading Intellectual Property Position in STING Field with Newly Issued Patent


BERKELEY, Calif., Dec. 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aduro Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADRO), a biopharmaceutical company with three distinct immunotherapy technologies, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a new patent in Aduro’s portfolio related to the activation of the STING (Stimulator of Interferon Genes) pathway. U.S. Patent 9,840,533 licensed from Memorial Sloan Kettering, The Rockefeller University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and University of Bonn covers pioneering composition of matter claims to a broad class of cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) structures that induce STING-dependent immune responses.

“Aduro’s third STING patent issuance this year reinforces and enhances our position as pioneers in this field, highlighting the quality of innovation being carried out by Aduro and our collaborators,” said Stephen T. Isaacs, chairman, president and CEO of Aduro Biotech. “The STING pathway continues to garner significant interest from the scientific community and is being recognized for its potential in the development of novel immunotherapies.”

The STING pathway plays a central role in the activation of an immune response and in the regulation of inflammation, and therefore, has been implicated in numerous diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders. For applications in oncology, Aduro entered into a worldwide co-development and co-commercialization collaboration with Novartis to develop STING activators based on encouraging preclinical data demonstrating potent anti-tumor activity in preclinical models treated with ADU-S100. The agreement, effective March 2015, provided $250 million in upfront cash and equity investments and a $35 million milestone upon initiation of a Phase 1 trial for the first STING product candidate and we are eligible for additional $465 million in potential development and regulatory milestones if all stated objectives of the collaboration are achieved. Aduro will lead commercialization activities and will book sales in the U.S., with Novartis leading commercialization in all other regions. The companies will share in profits in the U.S., Japan and major European countries. Novartis will pay Aduro a mid-teens royalty for sales in the rest of the world. Aduro retains worldwide rights to STING Pathway product candidates for potential applications in infectious and autoimmune diseases.

U.S. Patent 9,840,533 will be added to the family of more than 160 U.S. and ex-U.S. patents and patent applications that Aduro owns or licenses for compounds that target the STING receptor.

About STING Pathway Activator Platform
The Aduro-proprietary STING pathway activator product candidates, including ADU-S100, are synthetic small molecule immune modulators that are designed to target and activate human STING. STING is generally expressed at high levels in immune cells, including dendritic cells. Once activated, the STING receptor initiates a profound innate immune response through multiple pathways, inducing the expression of a broad profile of cytokines, including interferons and chemokines. This subsequently leads to the development of a systemic tumor antigen-specific T cell adaptive immune response.

Data from preclinical studies using multiple models demonstrated that ADU-S100 activates the STING Pathway and induced a durable local and systemic anti-tumor immune response as evidenced by induction of type I interferons (IFNs) and a CD8+ T-cell response.  Additionally, preclinical data showed the combination of STING activation in the tumor microenvironment and PD-1 blockade enhanced antitumor efficacy. 

ADU-S100 is being evaluated in two clinical studies. The first is a Phase 1 dose escalation monotherapy study, and the second is a Phase 1b study evaluating ADU-S100 in combination with an anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint antibody.

About Aduro
Aduro Biotech, Inc. is an immunotherapy company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapies that transform the treatment of challenging diseases. Aduro's technology platforms, which are designed to harness the body's natural immune system, are being investigated in cancer indications and have the potential to expand into autoimmune and infectious diseases. Aduro's STING Pathway Activator platform is designed to activate the STING receptor in immune cells, resulting in a potent tumor-specific immune response. ADU-S100 is the first STING Pathway Activator compound to enter the clinic and is currently being evaluated in both a Phase 1 monotherapy study as well as a Phase 1b combination study with an anti-PD1 immune checkpoint inhibitor. Aduro’s B-select monoclonal antibody platform is comprised of a number of immune modulating assets in research and development, including BION-1301, an anti-APRIL antibody. Aduro's pLADD program is based on proprietary attenuated strains of Listeria that have been engineered to express tumor neoantigens that are specific to an individual patient’s tumor. Other Listeria strains for lung and prostate cancers are being advanced by a partner. Aduro is collaborating with leading global pharmaceutical companies to expand its products and technology platforms. For more information, please visit www.aduro.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions or current expectations concerning, among other things, the strength and breadth of our patent portfolio, the adequacy of our intellectual property rights, the anti-tumor activity of ADU-S100, our technology platforms, plans, the receipt of additional milestone payments and the potential for eventual regulatory approval of our product candidates. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “will,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “project,” “seek”, “expect” or the negative or plural of these words or similar expressions.  Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, our history of net operating losses and uncertainty regarding our ability to achieve profitability, our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates, our ability to use and expand our technology platforms to build a pipeline of product candidates, our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates, our ability to operate in a competitive industry and compete successfully against competitors that have greater resources than we do, our reliance on third parties, and our ability to obtain and adequately protect intellectual property rights for our product candidates.  We discuss many of these risks in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking statements that we make in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. We assume no obligation to update our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.

Contact:
Alexandra Santos
Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations
510 809 9231
                   Media Contact:
Aljanae Reynolds
510 809 2452
press@aduro.com