- CureVac has exercised its options on a selected set of potential cancer vaccine targets identified by myNEO Therapeutics under the existing partnership agreement
- Two option fee payments triggered to myNEO Therapeutics
- By applying its AI-based neoantigen discovery ImmunoEngine platform, myNEO Therapeutics has discovered a broad collection of novel cancer targets, which it is using to develop breakthrough off-the-shelf cancer vaccine therapeutics internally and with strategic partners
GHENT, Belgium and Tübingen, Germany/Boston, USA – November 22, 2023 – myNEO N.V. (myNEO Therapeutics) and CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq CVAC) announced today that CureVac has exercised two exclusive options on selected sets of potential cancer vaccine antigen targets. Since the initiation of the myNEO Therapeutics-CureVac partnership in May 2022, both companies have closely collaborated and have achieved several important milestones. In this collaboration, myNEO Therapeutics has used its advanced AI-powered technology platform to analyze extensive biological datasets and has identified a collection of novel shared antigen targets associated with two cancer indications.
The identified antigen targets demonstrated strong immunogenicity in undisclosed preclinical studies. CureVac will select the most promising targets for validation and consideration for the design of potential mRNA cancer vaccine candidates.
Cedric Bogaert, CEO of myNEO Therapeutics, said: “We are excited by the rapid progress achieved in this collaborative program with CureVac. CureVac’s decision to exercise its options is a strong validation of our ImmunoEngine platform and the results it has generated. This milestone achievement is indicative of our position as a leading company in the field of novel cancer target discovery. We very much look forward to continuing our highly productive partnership with CureVac.”
“We see great value in our partnership with myNEO Therapeutics as we explore the promise of mRNA vaccines in cancer applications,” Dr. Myriam Mendila, Chief Development Officer at CureVac added. “myNEO Therapeutics’ identification of novel tumor antigens expands our clinical options and is an important enabler to propel our work on cancer vaccines forward. We are pleased to have achieved this important milestone at this early stage of our partnership.”
myNEO Therapeutics recently announced its transition from a leader in immunogenomic profiling towards an integrated product development company with a clear focus on the discovery of novel breakthrough cancer immunotherapies either by internal development or in collaboration with strategic partners.
About myNEO Therapeutics
myNEO Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of breakthrough therapeutic cancer vaccines by applying cutting edge AI technology to identify and validate novel cancer targets. The company’s ImmunoEngine discovery platform is empowered by proprietary data analysis tools that allow rapid screening of immuno-genomic information from cancer patients. By focusing on the complete genome of patients myNEO Therapeutics is able to identify impactful tumor alterations and previously unknown neoantigen targets from the untapped “dark genome” regions, from which it aims to develop novel cancer immunotherapeutics.
To date, myNEO Therapeutics has achieved several pivotal milestones in realizing its vision, advancing immune-oncology treatments for both personalized as well as off-the-shelf approaches towards the clinic, in a broad range of solid tumor indications. myNEO Therapeutics intends to build a broad portfolio of anti-cancer therapeutics, both through internal development as well as via strategic corporate partnerships.
myNEO Therapeutics was founded in 2018 by leading biotech entrepreneurs Cedric Bogaert, Professor Wim Van Criekinge and Jan Van den Berghe. Mark Vaeck, founder, and former CEO of biopharmaceutical company Ablynx is chairman of the Board of Directors and Bert Coessens, founder of Cartagenia (which was acquired by Agilent Technologies), is myNEO Therapeutics Chief Operating Officer.
To find out more about myNEO Therapeutics, please visit our website: myneotx.com.
About CureVac
CureVac (Nasdaq: CVAC) is a global biopharmaceutical company in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, with more than 20 years of expertise in developing, optimizing, and manufacturing this versatile biological molecule for medical purposes. The principle of CureVac’s proprietary technology is the use of optimized mRNA as a data carrier to instruct the human body to produce its own proteins capable of fighting a broad range of diseases. In July 2020, CureVac entered in a collaboration with GSK to jointly develop new products in prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases based on CureVac’s second-generation mRNA technology. This collaboration was later extended to the development of second-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and modified mRNA vaccine technologies. Based on its proprietary technology, CureVac has built a deep clinical pipeline across the areas of prophylactic vaccines, cancer therapies, antibody therapies, and the treatment of rare diseases. CureVac N.V. has its headquarters in Tübingen, Germany, and has more than 1,100 employees across its sites in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and the U.S. Further information can be found at www.curevac.com.
Contacts
myNEO Therapeutics Media Contact
Cedric Bogaert, CEO
myNEO Therapeutics
Ghent, Belgium
info[at]myneotx.com
CureVac Media and Investor Relations Contact
Dr. Sarah Fakih, Vice President Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
CureVac, Tübingen, Germany
T: +49 7071 9883-1298
M: +49 160 90 496949
sarah.fakih@curevac.com