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Mestag Therapeutics, a biotech company harnessing new insights into fibroblast-immune interactions, has announced that it has been awarded a “Transforming Cancer Therapeutics” grant from Innovate UK’s Cancer Therapeutics program of 1.5 million GBP (1.9 million USD) to accelerate the development of its MST-0300 antibody.
According to the company, MST-0300 is a 'first-in-class' bispecific antibody designed to induce TLS in solid tumours in a highly specific and localised fashion. The presence of TLS in tumours has recently emerged as being strongly correlated with improved outcomes for cancer patients across multiple tumour types.
TLS are believed to enable improved immune cell access to the tumour and drive local immune cell education, leading to a powerful orchestrated anti-tumour response. Mestag data in hard-to-treat cancer models, recently presented at the 2024 American Association of Cancer Research conference, demonstrate potent anti-tumour effects.
Susan Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Mestag Therapeutics, said, “We are honoured to have been selected as a recipient for this highly competitive translational award. The presence of TLS in tumours is emerging as a key driver of improved treatment outcomes in cancer patients, and our MST-0300 program, designed to induce the formation of TLS in tumours, holds important therapeutic promise. Leveraging the dynamic UK biotech ecosystem, Innovate UK funding will enable us to advance MST-0300 rapidly to solid tumour patients who urgently need new treatment options.”