XNK Therapeutics presented two posters at the NK2023 conference in Oslo

HUDDINGE, Sweden, Sept. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- XNK Therapeutics AB today announced that two posters, regarding bladder cancer (BC) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) respectively, was presented at the 20^th Meeting of the Society for Natural Immunity (NK2023) in Oslo, Norway, in September.

XNK Therapeutics participate at NK2023 in Oslo and present the latest research relating to the company's leading natural killer (NK) cell therapies. Two abstracts have been accepted for presentation at the meeting.

The poster on BC shows the feasibility of expanding autologous NK cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from BC patients. Cells were collected from patients both before and after chemotherapy treatment and the expansion and activation process was successful at both collection points demonstrating flexibility in timing for manufacturing. There were no significant differences in total cell yield, NK fraction or NK cell cytotoxicity against tumor cells between cultures started with PBMCs collected before or after chemotherapy treatment.

In AML, the study demonstrated that it was possible to expand and activate NK cells from PBMCs of AML patients of diverse cohorts (remission, newly diagnosed, relapsed/refractory). These NK cells expressed activating receptors and were able to degranulate in response to - and kill- two different leukemic cell lines.

The data have been generated in collaboration with XNK's external partners, Anders Ullén and Fernanda Costa Svedman at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, for the BC study, and Abhishek Maiti and Naval Daver at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, USA, for the AML abstract.

NK2023 is the 20^th annual meeting arranged by the Society of Natural Immunity and takes place in Oslo, Norway, on September 26-29, 2023. The meeting will attract more than 450 participants and is focused entirely on NK cells, with a preceding day entirely focused on the development of NK cell-based immunotherapies.

"Discussing our pipeline with the leading NK cell experts at NK2023 will help us refine our path forward, and as one of the leading companies in the field we are pleased to contribute to this important meeting" said Anna-Karin Maltais, CSO of XNK Therapeutics.

For more information, please contact:

Johan Liwing, CEO, XNK Therapeutics
Tel: +46 706 70 36 75
E-mail: johan.liwing@xnktherapeutics.com

About XNK Therapeutics AB

XNK Therapeutics is a clinical stage immunotherapy company focused on bringing new and more effective treatments to cancer patients. The company is at the forefront of autologous NK cell-based cell therapy development with a proprietary technology platform and a pipeline spanning both hematological malignancies and solid tumor indications. The most advanced product, evencaleucel, is in phase II studies in combination with the CD38 antibody isatuximab targeting multiple myeloma. Other programs include XNK02 in AML, currently in advanced preclinical studies in collaboration with MD Anderson Cancer Center and XNK03 in bladder cancer, currently in preclinical studies in collaboration with the Karolinska University Hospital. XNK's efforts are supported by a dedicated team that include world-renowned NK cell experts and by an approved in-house GMP facility. XNK Therapeutics is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. For more info, please visit http://www.xnktherapeutics.com.

About Bladder Cancer

According to the World Health Organization over 570,000 new cases of bladder cancer was diagnosed in 2020 globally. It is the 4th most common form of cancer in men and the American Cancer Society estimates that bladder cancer will cause over 17,000 deaths in 2022 in US alone. It affects mainly older people with 90% of patients being diagnosed at an age above 55 years. In locally advanced urothelial cancer, which constitutes about 30% of bladder cancers, the 5-year survival rate is below 40% and current treatments may include removal of the entire bladder, radiation, chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors. For metastatic disease the 5-year survival rate is limited to approximately 6% and current standard systemic treatments include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and antibody-drug conjugates.

About Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

AML is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults. Globally, close to 200,000 new patients are diagnosed and about 150,000 will die from AML each year. In AML, the bone marrow produces a large number of abnormal immature blood cells, so called blasts, that can overcrowd the bone marrow and interfere with the production of healthy mature blood cells. This results in for example infections and anemia. The blasts can also spread to other parts of the body, including the central nervous system.

Current treatments include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, stem cell transplantation and targeted therapy such as kinase inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies. The overall outcome for patients remains poor, relapse is common and 5-year survival rates are around 30%.

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