STRASBOURG, France, Jul 01, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Regulatory News: Transgene
FR:TNG
-0.84%
today announced that it was invited to present
existing preclinical data on its proprietary program against chronic
hepatitis B, TG1050 immunotherapy, at the BIT 5th Annual International
Symposium of Hepatitis in Dalian, China. The presentation, entitled,
“TG1050, A Novel Viral-based Immunotherapeutic Targeting Chronic
Hepatitis B Infection” was given by Dr. Ren Zhu, Senior Scientist and
Head of the HBV Program at TRANSGENE Biopharmaceutical Technology
(Shanghai) Co., Ltd, a Transgene subsidiary located in Shanghai, China.
The Company also provided an update on activities at the Company’s 50:50
equity joint venture (JV) with Tasly Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. -
Transgene Tasly (Tianjin) Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The JV was set up
to develop and commercialize innovative targeted immunotherapeutic
products for the Chinese market. There are currently three projects
ongoing at the joint venture: Transgene’s programs TG1050, TG3003, a
monoclonal antibody to treat solid tumors and TG6002, an oncolytic viral
immunotherapy to treat solid tumors. TG1050 is currently the JV’s most
advanced program under development in China, with manufacturing process
development ongoing and pre-clinical efficacy and toxicity studies
anticipated to start later in 2014.
Xia MENG, General Manager of Transgene Tasly (Tianjin) Biopharmaceutical
Co., Ltd. said: “We are pleased with the development progress we are
making with TG1050, since we started activities in China with this
immunotherapeutic product.Given the large unmet medical need in
China to treat hepatitis B, we are excited about the potential TG1050
holds in helping to combat this disease.”
“We are delighted with the good work being done through our equity
joint venture with Tasly Pharmaceutical Group to advance the development
of TG1050, as well as other Transgene programs” said Philippe
Archinard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Transgene. “China
is a growing market for biopharmaceuticals and we are excited to be
playing a role in developing promising innovative therapeutics for this
market that we hope will make a difference in patients’ lives.”
About TG1050
TG1050 is an
adenovirus-based targeted immunotherapy candidate for the treatment of
chronic hepatitis B.
An estimated 350-400 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis B
and 600,000 die of the disease every year. At present, hepatitis B is
largely incurable and is responsible for a large number of cases of
cirrhosis and liver cancer. While the current standard of care,
antiviral treatments, enable patients to stabilize their disease, the
cure rate remains unsatisfactory, ranging from 3-25 % depending on the
patient population. Thus, there is a large unmet medical need for new
and alternative treatments.
In China, there are an estimated 70 million people living with chronic
hepatitis B, and the country has a large public health initiative
underway to significantly increase the number of patients diagnosed and
treated with the disease.
The pre-clinical package for TG1050 supports the capacity of TG1050 to
induce robust, broad, long-lasting T cells with characteristics similar
to those found in patients who resolve infection, together with some
antiviral activity. Importantly, TG1050–educated T cells have the
capacity to recognize immune determinants derived from all circulating
strains of HBV viral genotypes, including genotypes B and C that are
dominant in China. In addition, a collaborative study performed between
the Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai and both Transgene Biopharmaceutical
Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Transgene SA, showed that levels of
antibodies to adenovirus are similar in chronic hepatitis B infected
patients and healthy volunteers.1
Transgene expects to
initiate a first-in-humans clinical trial outside of China in late 2014.
TG1050 is also being developed for the Chinese market by Transgene Tasly
(Tianjin) Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a 50:50 equity joint venture
between Transgene and Tasly Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.
About Transgene in China:
TRANSGENE
Biopharmaceutical Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd was established in 2012
and is a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (“WOFE”) under the laws of the
People’s Republic of China. Research activities conducted by Transgene
through this subsidiary are mainly academic and early stage. Development
and eventual commercialization of Transgene’s more mature R&D programs
for the Chinese market will be conducted through Transgene Tasly
(Tianjin) Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd, the 50:50 joint-venture formed in
2010 by Transgene with the Chinese pharmaceutical group, Tianjin Tasly
Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
About Transgene:
Transgene
(nyse-euronext:TNG), a member of the Institut Mérieux Group, is a
publicly traded French biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering,
developing and manufacturing targeted immunotherapies for the treatment
of oncology and infectious diseases. Transgene’s programs utilize
well-tolerated viruses with the goal of indirectly or directly killing
infected or cancerous cells. The Company’s two lead clinical-stage
programs are: TG4010 for non-small cell lung cancer and Pexa-Vec for
liver cancer. The Company has several other programs in clinical and
pre-clinical development that are based on its core viral vector
technology; this includes clinical-stage TG4001 for oropharyngeal cancer
and TG1050 for hepatitis B in advanced pre-clinical development.
Transgene is based in Strasbourg, France, and has additional operations
in Lyon, as well as satellite offices in China and the U.S. Additional
information about Transgene is available at
www.transgene.fr
.