Presage Biosciences and AstraZeneca Partner to Advance Immuno-Oncology Research for Head and Neck Cancer

Presage Biosciences, a pioneering translational oncology company whose mission is to use CIVO and spatial molecular profiling to understand the complexity of drug response in the tumor microenvironment (TME), has entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca, a global biopharmaceutical company. According to the agreement, Presage's platform will be used by AstraZeneca in translational analysis to evaluate several investigational bispecific antibody combinations in samples taken from head and neck cancer patients. The work will contribute to advancing AstraZeneca's growing portfolio of immuno-oncology agents looking to harness the immune system against cancer.

Prior studies have demonstrated that the CIVO platform provides accurate guidance about the therapeutic potential of novel agents in the only context that matters: Fully intact patient tumors. We are very pleased to be working with an innovator like AstraZeneca and supporting their quest to discover, develop, and deliver transformative medicines to patients."

Rich Klinghoffer, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Presage

Earlier this month, Presage presented results from a completed Phase 0 study evaluating Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) alone and in combination with other immune-oncology agents at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 2023 Annual Meeting. The study enrolled patients across six US-based cancer centers in both soft tissue sarcoma and head and neck cancer. Study data highlight the importance of evaluating novel therapies in patient tumors and revealed a contradiction between results from in-vivo animal studies versus results in the intact TME.

"For too long, we have put our trust in laboratory models of cancer that do not capture the complexity of the intact TME," said Klinghoffer. "The CIVO technology was developed to address this fundamental issue in cancer drug development and the results from this study demonstrate the true power of our platform - the ability to know, early in development, how a drug impacts patient tumors."

KEYTRUDA^® is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.