BELTSVILLE, Md., Nov. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NextCure, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXTC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing novel, first-in-class immunomedicines to treat cancer and other immune-related diseases, today announced that clinical trial investigator Nicholas Short, M.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, will present a Trials in Progress poster for NC525, a novel first-in-class immunomedicine, at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in New Orleans. NC525 is a humanized monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to leukocyte-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor 1 (LAIR-1) and is being developed for the treatment of advanced myeloid leukemia (AML).
“At last year’s ASH conference, we shared promising preclinical data on NC525 demonstrating that targeting LAIR-1 on AML leukemic stem cells (LSCs) and blast cells specifically eradicates both the AML LSCs and blast cells, while preserving healthy hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in pre-clinical models,” said Han Myint, M.D., NextCure’s chief medical officer. “We have recently filed our investigational new drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and have received the green light to proceed with a Phase 1 clinical study. We look forward to initiating it in Q1 2023 and advancing NC525 as a potential therapeutic option. This is the fourth therapeutic program that NextCure will advance to the clinic.”
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains incurable for most patients with current therapies. LAIR-1 is an immune inhibitory receptor that is present on most immune cell subsets. However, high expression of LAIR-1 is seen on leukemic stem cells and blast cells, whereas LAIR-1 expression is relatively lower on normal hematopoietic stem cells is minimal, making it an ideal anti-leukemic target. NC525, a humanized LAIR-1 mAb, targets and destroys AML blasts and LSCs. The Phase 1 study is an open-label, non-randomized, dose escalation trial to determine safety and tolerability of NC525 in adult patients with relapsed or refractory AML.
Details of the poster presentation are as follows:
Title: A Phase 1, Open-Label, Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy Study of NC525 in Subjects with Advanced Myeloid Neoplasms
Abstract Number: 4088
Session Name: 616. Acute Myeloid Leukemias: Investigational Therapies, Excluding Transplantation and Cellular Immunotherapies III
Session Date: Monday, December 12, 2022
Session Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
About NextCure, Inc.
NextCure is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing novel, first-in-class immunomedicines to treat cancer and other immune-related diseases. Through our proprietary FIND-IO™ platform, we study various immune cells to discover and understand targets and structural components of immune cells and their functional impact in disease in order to develop immunomedicines. Our initial focus is to bring hope and new treatments to patients who do not respond to current cancer therapies, patients whose cancer progresses despite treatment and patients with cancer types not adequately addressed by available therapies. http://www.nextcure.com
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Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Words such as “expects,” “believes,” “intends,” “hope,” “forward” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements about NextCure’s plans, objectives, and intentions with respect to the discovery of immunomedicine targets and the discovery and development of immunomedicines. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: our limited operating history and no products approved for commercial sale; our history of significant losses; our need to obtain additional financing; risks related to clinical development, including that early clinical data may not be confirmed by later clinical results; risks that pre-clinical research may not be confirmed in clinical trials; risks related to marketing approval and commercialization; and the unproven approach to the discovery and development of product candidates based on our FIND-IO platform. More detailed information on these and additional factors that could affect NextCure’s actual results are described in NextCure’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including NextCure’s most recent Form 10-K and subsequent Form 10-Q. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. NextCure assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, even if expectations change.
Investor Inquiries
Timothy Mayer, Ph.D.
NextCure, Inc.
Chief Operating Officer
(240) 762-6486
IR@nextcure.com
