Appia Bio to Present Data on API-192 at the 65th American Society for Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition

API-192 is a first-in-class off-the-shelf allogeneic CAR-NKT cell therapy that expresses dual CARs targeting CD19 and CD20 and armored with soluble IL-15 for improved expansion and persistence

API-192 is the first development candidate out of 2021 collaboration and license agreement with Kite, a Gilead Company

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Appia Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company developing allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered invariant natural killer T (CAR-NKT) cell therapies from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) for patients with cancer, today announced that it will present preclinical data on API-192, a first-in-class CAR-NKT allogeneic cell therapy for the treatment of a broad array of B-cell mediated malignancies including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, one of the most common cancers in the U.S.

These data will be delivered in a poster presentation at the 65^th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition being held December 9-12, 2023 in San Diego, CA.

Title: API-192, an Allogeneic CD19/20 CAR-NKT Product Derived from Cord Blood CD34+ HSPCs for the Treatment of B-cell Malignancies
Date: Monday, December 11, 2023, 6:00-8:00 PM PT
Number: 4801
Session: 703. Cellular Immunotherapies: Basic and Translational: Poster III
Location: San Diego Convention Center Halls G-H
Presenter: Lanny Gov, Ph.D., principal scientist, Appia Bio

API-192 is the first development candidate out of a 2021 collaboration and license agreement between Appia Bio and Kite, a Gilead Company. Under the terms of the agreement, Appia Bio is responsible for preclinical and early clinical research of HSC-derived CAR-NKT product candidates engineered with CARs provided by Kite. Kite is responsible for the later development, manufacturing, and commercialization of the product candidates identified through the collaboration. API-192 is currently undergoing investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies.

"It has been a fantastic team effort to bring API-192 forward as our first development candidate out of our ACUA technology platform. Our research has benefited from the collaboration and support of our partner, Kite-Gilead, and the opportunity to benchmark to the gold standard set by their autologous cell therapy leadership," said JJ Kang, Ph.D., co-founder and chief executive officer of Appia Bio. "We are excited to share these data that support API-192 as a healthy donor derived next-generation allogeneic cell therapy in lymphoma and bring it to patients in the clinic."

About API-192
API-192 is a human cord blood CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell-derived natural killer T (NKT) cell therapy product engineered to express dual chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeting two prevalent B-cell antigens, CD19 and CD20 and armored with soluble IL-15 for improved expansion and persistence. Using its proprietary Appia Cells Utilized for Allogeneic (ACUA) platform, Appia Bio can manufacture allogeneic API-192 cells resembling endogenous NKT cells from hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) at high yield and with high purity without genetic editing or purification steps.

About Appia Bio
Appia Bio is pre-clinical stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing off-the-shelf allogeneic cell therapies across a broad array of cancer indications, utilizing a scalable technology platform with the goal to increase access for patients. With its ACUA (Appia Cells Utilized for Allogeneic) technology platform, Appia Bio leverages the biology of lymphocyte development with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor (TCR) gene engineering to generate CAR-engineered invariant natural killer T (CAR-NKT) or gamma delta T cells from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The ACUA platform was developed from groundbreaking research in the laboratory of Lili Yang, Ph.D., at University of California, Los Angeles, and collaboration with Appia Bio's other scientific founders, David Baltimore, Ph.D. at Caltech and Pin Wang, Ph.D. at University of Southern California. For more information, please visit www.appiabio.com.

SOURCE Appia Bio