SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.,
March 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sutro
Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRO), a clinical-stage drug discovery,
development and manufacturing company focused on the application of
precise protein engineering and rational design to create
next-generation oncology therapeutics, today announced that Merck,
known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada, has extended the research term of the
collaboration's first cytokine-derivative program by one year,
which includes a payment to Sutro of an undisclosed amount. Sutro's
collaboration with Merck was announced in July 2018 to develop therapeutics for cancer and
autoimmune disorders.
"At Sutro, our proprietary and integrated cell-free protein
synthesis and site-specific conjugation platform
XpressCF+™ enables us to design and develop
next-generation targeted product candidates by innovating beyond
the constraints of cell-based systems," said Sutro CEO,
Bill Newell. "The advancement of our
novel cytokine-derivative product candidate towards IND-enabling
studies marks another important step forward in our collective goal
of improving the outcomes for cancer patients."
"In all three of our current collaborations, and in three
distinct therapeutic protein formats, we have progressed product
candidates either into clinical development or to the late stages
of preclinical development," said Sutro Chief Scientific
Officer, Trevor Hallam, PhD. "These successes with Merck and
with each of our other collaborators demonstrate the power and
agility of our rapid and precise engineering platform."
About Sutro Biopharma
Sutro Biopharma, Inc., located
in South San Francisco, is a
clinical-stage drug discovery, development and manufacturing
company. Using precise protein engineering and rational design,
Sutro is advancing next-generation oncology therapeutics.
Sutro's proprietary and integrated cell-free protein synthesis
platform XpressCF® and site-specific conjugation
platform, XpressCF+™, led to the discovery of STRO-001
and STRO-002, Sutro's first two internally-developed ADCs. STRO-001
is a CD74-targeting ADC currently being investigated in a Phase I
clinical trial of patients with advanced B-cell malignancies,
including multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. STRO-001 was
granted Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA for multiple myeloma in
October 2018. STRO-002 is a folate
receptor alpha (FolRα)-targeting ADC, currently being investigated
in a Phase I clinical trial of patients with ovarian and
endometrial cancers. This is the second product candidate to be
evaluated in clinical trials resulting from Sutro's
XpressCF® and XpressCF+™ technology
platforms. A third program, CC-99712 (BCMA-targeting ADC), which is
part of Sutro's collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb (formerly
Celgene Corporation), recently began enrolling patients for its
Phase I clinical trial of patients with multiple myeloma. Sutro's
proprietary technology was responsible for the discovery and
manufacturing of CC-99712, for which Bristol-Myers Squibb has
worldwide development and commercialization rights. Sutro is
entitled to development and regulatory milestone payments and
tiered royalties from Bristol-Myers Squibb for this BCMA ADC.
Sutro is dedicated to transforming the lives of cancer patients
by creating medicines with improved therapeutic profiles for areas
of unmet need.
To date, Sutro has designed cytokine-based immuno-oncology
therapies, ADCs, vaccines and bispecific antibodies primarily
directed at clinically-validated targets for which the current
standard of care is suboptimal.
Sutro's platform allows it to accelerate discovery and
development of potential first-in-class and best-in-class molecules
through rapid and systematic evaluation of protein
structure-activity relationships to create optimized homogeneous
product candidates.
In addition to developing its own oncology pipeline, Sutro is
collaborating with select pharmaceutical and biotech companies to
discover and develop novel, next-generation therapeutics. As the
pace of clinical development accelerates, Sutro and its partners
are developing therapeutics designed to more efficiently kill
tumors without harming healthy cells.
Additional multimedia content from Sutro regarding STRO-001 and
STRO-002 can be found here and here.
Follow Sutro on Twitter, @Sutrobio, and at www.sutrobio.com to
learn more about our passion for changing the future of
oncology.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor"
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including, but not limited to, anticipated preclinical and clinical
development activities, potential benefits of the company's product
candidates and platform and potential market opportunities for the
company's product candidates. All statements other than statements
of historical fact are statements that could be deemed
forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, the company cannot guarantee future events, results,
actions, levels of activity, performance or achievements, and the
timing and results of biotechnology development and potential
regulatory approval is inherently uncertain. Forward-looking
statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause
the company's actual activities or results to differ significantly
from those expressed in any forward-looking statement, including
risks and uncertainties related to the company's ability to advance
its product candidates, the receipt and timing of potential
regulatory designations, approvals and commercialization of product
candidates, the Company's ability to maintain and recognize the
benefits of certain designations received by product candidates,
the timing and results of preclinical and clinical trials, the
company's ability to fund development activities and achieve
development goals, the company's ability to protect intellectual
property, and the Company's commercial collaborations with third
parties and other risks and uncertainties described under the
heading "Risk Factors" in documents the company files from time to
time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press
release, and the company undertakes no obligation to revise or
update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances after the date hereof.
Investor Contacts
John Graziano
Solebury Trout
+1 646-378-2942
jgraziano@soleburytrout.com
Xuan Yang
Solebury Trout
+1 646-378-2975
xyang@soleburytrout.com
Media Contacts
David Schull
Russo Partners
(212) 845-4271
david.schull@russopartnersllc.com
Travis Kruse
Russo Partners
(212) 845-4272
travis.kruse@russopartnersllc.com
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SOURCE Sutro Biopharma