Trigone Pharma Announces a Strategic Collaboration with 4C Biomed to Develop a Novel Treatment for High-Grade Bladder Cancer

RAANANA, Israel, Sept. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Trigone Pharma (“Trigone”), a pharmaceutical company pioneering prolonged intravesical treatment combined with targeted therapies for the treatment of bladder cancer, today announced a collaboration with 4C Biomed, to develop an innovative treatment for bladder cancer. The collaboration will focus on local administration of 4C Biomed’s anti 4CB-1 as an innovative treatment for high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Trigone Pharma, a pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel solutions that treat bladder cancers and urologic diseases, and 4C Biomed, an early-stage biomed R&D group specializing in immuno-oncology and auto-immunity today announced a strategic collaboration agreement to advance novel intravesical immunotherapy, which is delivered directly into the bladder, for the treatment of high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (HG-NMIBC). The approach involves the local delivery of 4C Biomed’s first-in-class monoclonal antibody that targets HVEM (TNFRSF14) – a novel Immunotherapy, using Trigone’s proprietary technology to increase dwell time – which has been shown to significantly improve the effectiveness of bladder targeted therapies.

“We are thrilled to enter into this collaboration with 4C Biomed as we continue to explore our platform’s potential to pair with a broad spectrum of targeted therapy modalities for the treatment of patients with bladder cancer,” said Prof. Ofer Nativ, MD, Trigone’s Chief Medical Officer, Former Head of the Urology Division at “Bnei Zion” Medical Center. “We believe this unique combination will leverage each technology’s strengths, with the potential to develop a promising and powerful immunotherapy for bladder cancer patients with a significant unmet need and limited clinical options other than bladder removal.”

“Trigone Pharma has developed a delivery technology that can sustain the release of drugs in the urinary bladder for long periods allowing sustainable local treatments for bladder conditions,” said Dan Touitou, B Pharm, MBA, CEO of Trigone Pharma. “The agreement is an important step forward in our plans to bring next-generation of immunotherapies for patients with high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.”

“Immunotherapies have become important treatment options for many patients with bladder cancer, and we look forward to working with Trigone to advance new immunotherapy strategies with intravesical delivery,” said Dr. Eyal Greenberg CEO and Scientific Co-founder of 4C Biomed. “This novel delivery approach has the potential to enhance the bioavailability of our novel anti-HVEM antibody in the bladder and to enhance its anti-cancer efficacy, while providing clinical benefit, which would represent a major advancement to patient care.”

About Trigone Pharma Ltd.

Trigone Pharma Ltd., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company based in Israel, is dedicated to developing novel therapies for bladder disease with unmet medical needs. Trigone Pharma is dedicated to developing and commercializing novel therapeutics to treat patients suffering from interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), bladder cancer (NMIBC), and other related bladder conditions. The company is working on several programs for bladder cancer, some of which in collaborations based on innovative molecules.

Trigone has signed a collaboration agreement with 4C Biomed for the development of novel therapeutics to treat high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (HG-NMIBC) in patients with a significant unmet need and limited clinical options other than bladder removal. Trigone announced the presentation of data from the pharmacokinetic data and animal study results data on TRG-100 in pigs with Bladder Cancer (NMIBC), and other related bladder conditions at The American Urological Association (AUA) in September 2021.

About 4C Biomed’s anti 4CB-1 monoclonal antibody

HVEM (also known as TNFRSF14), a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor family, was originally discovered as the entry route for herpes simplex virus (HSV). It is expressed on the surface of T cells, B cells and other hematopoietic cells as well as on endothelial and epithelial cells. The interaction of HVEM with the inhibitory receptor BTLA (B And T Lymphocyte Associated receptor) on tumor specific T cells results in T cell inhibition. Anti 4CB-1 is a fully human anti-HVEM mAb capable of specifically blocking the HVEM-BTLA interaction, leading to immune cells activation followed by enhanced cytotoxicity toward cancer cells.

About 4C Biomed

The 4C Biomed group is a privately held, pre-clinical stage Immuno-Oncology R&D start-up. Its main objective is to identify targets and develop novel and potent drugs aimed at harnessing a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. 4C Biomed has established a superior and systematic discovery platform that is exceptionally efficient at highlighting targets for drug development, enabling the creation of an experimentally-derived data bank of potential targets. 4C Biomed has a broad and diversified pipeline of validated targets at different development stages and a PCT patent application for its lead anti-4CB1.

INVESTOR CONTACTS:

Dan Touitou – CEO, Co-founder, Trigone Pharma Ltd.
[email protected]

Eyal Greenberg – CEO and Scientific Co-founder, 4C Biomed Services Limited
[email protected]