Expected Filing of Investigational New Drug (IND) Application in 2017
Company to Host Conference Call Today to Provide Program Update, Including STELLAR,
at 5:30 a.m. PT/ 8:30 a.m. ET
BERKELEY, Calif. and OSS, The Netherlands, Dec. 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aduro Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq:ADRO), a
biopharmaceutical company with three distinct immunotherapy technologies, announced today that an anti-CD27 antibody developed by
Aduro Biotech Europe and derived from its proprietary B-select technology has been selected to be advanced into clinical
development by Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA (known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada), through a subsidiary. CD27
has been recognized as having a critical role in activating a productive anti-cancer immune response and has demonstrated the
potential to be combined with checkpoint inhibitors in pre-clinical studies.
“Pre-clinical studies have shown that an anti-CD27 agonist can induce a T cell-mediated anti-cancer immune
response, and in combination with PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitors complete tumor eradication can be achieved,” said Hans van
Eenennaam, Ph.D., chief operational officer, Aduro Biotech Europe.
The CD27 antibody was licensed by MSD to advance as a part of their successful immunotherapy development program
and was identified in close collaboration with Prof. Jannie Borst, Ph.D., professor at the University of Amsterdam and division
head at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, through Aduro’s B-select monoclonal antibody technology. This technology includes a
proprietary ultra-selective functional screening process to identify antibodies with unique binding properties against a broad
repertoire of targets that can modulate the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system.
“In 2014, prior to the acquisition by Aduro Biotech, BioNovion entered into a worldwide license agreement with MSD
that covers the product candidate’s development and advancement through commercialization,” said Andrea van Elsas, Ph.D., chief
scientific officer of Aduro Biotech Europe. “Both companies recognized the significant potential of targeting CD27 as a new and
distinct mechanism in cancer immunotherapy, especially in the context of PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors, and were strongly committed to
accelerate a quality candidate into the clinic.”
Conference Call with Management
Aduro’s management will host a conference call to review this announcement and provide a program update, including
STELLAR, today at 5:30 a.m. PT/ 8:30 a.m. ET. To participate in the conference call, please dial (844) 309-0604 (domestic) or
(574) 990-9932 (international) and refer to conference ID 31336163. Live audio of the conference call will be simultaneously
webcast and will be available to members of the news media, investors and the general public at http://investors.aduro.com/.
About the Aduro - MSD Collaboration
BioNovion B.V. and MSD, through a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA, entered into a worldwide license agreement
in 2014 for the development and commercialization of CD27 antibody agonists, and BioNovion received an up-front payment of $15
million. In 2015, BioNovion was acquired by Aduro Biotech and became its subsidiary, Aduro Biotech Europe B.V.
Under the agreement, a Joint Research Committee was formed to advance the program. Aduro has been reimbursed for certain
research activities and is eligible to receive future development, commercial and net sales milestone payments. In addition, Aduro
is eligible to receive royalties in the mid-single digits to low teens based on any net sales of the product, if it is approved for
marketing.
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 LADD technology platform is based on proprietary attenuated strains of Listeria that have been engineered to
express tumor-associated antigens to induce specific and targeted immune responses. This platform is being developed as a treatment
for multiple indications, including pancreatic, ovarian, lung and prostate cancers, mesothelioma and glioblastoma. Additionally, a
personalized form of LADD, or pLADD, is being developed utilizing tumor neoantigens that are specific to an individual patient’s
tumor. Aduro's STING Pathway Activator platform is designed to activate the intracellular STING receptor, 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 a Phase 1 study in patients with cutaneously accessible metastatic solid tumors or lymphomas. Aduro’s B-select
monoclonal antibody platform includes a number of immune modulating assets in research and preclinical development. 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 potential for the anti-CD27 antibody described above, our technology
platforms, plans, 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,” “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 inability 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, 2016, 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: Sylvia Wheeler SVP, Corporate Affairs 510 809 9264 Media Contact: Susan Lehner 510 809 2137 press@aduro.com
