Lisata and Valo Therapeutics Announce Preclinical Research Partnership

On November 6, 2024, Lisata Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company listed on Nasdaq (LSTA), announced a new research collaboration with Valo Therapeutics Oy, a private firm specializing in innovative cancer immunotherapies. This partnership aims to explore the combined effects of Lisata's product candidate, certepetide, with ValoTx's PeptiCRAd platform and a checkpoint inhibitor in a preclinical melanoma mouse model. ValoTx will conduct the research, while Lisata supplies certepetide.

Kristen K. Buck, M.D., Lisata's Chief Medical Officer, emphasized the potential of certepetide to enhance immunotherapies by altering the tumor microenvironment, making it less immunosuppressive. Dr. Buck noted the complementary mechanisms of certepetide and PeptiCRAd, which could overcome current melanoma treatment challenges like resistance, recurrence, and metastasis.

Sari Pesonen, Ph.D., ValoTx's CEO and Chief Scientific Officer, expressed excitement about the collaboration. Pesonen highlighted the potential of combining PeptiCRAd with certepetide to advance cancer immunotherapy, aiming to develop more effective treatments for patients in need.

Melanoma is a severe and potentially fatal skin cancer, causing approximately 58,000 deaths globally each year, as per the World Health Organization. Current treatments, such as checkpoint inhibitors, have a response rate of 35-60%, but there remains a significant need for more effective therapies, especially for advanced or metastatic melanoma.

Certepetide, an investigational drug, works by selectively activating the C-end rule active transport mechanism in tumors, facilitating better penetration and accumulation of anti-cancer agents. It also modifies the tumor microenvironment, reducing its immunosuppressive properties and inhibiting metastasis. Lisata has accumulated substantial non-clinical data showing that certepetide enhances the delivery of various anti-cancer therapies, including chemotherapies, immunotherapies, and RNA-based treatments. Certepetide has demonstrated safety, tolerability, and clinical activity in trials, enhancing chemotherapy and immunotherapy effectiveness in solid tumors. It has received several designations, including Fast Track and Orphan Drug for pancreatic cancer in the U.S. and E.U., and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation for osteosarcoma in the U.S.

Lisata Therapeutics focuses on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for advanced solid tumors. Their product candidate, certepetide, is a cyclic peptide designed to activate a novel uptake pathway, allowing anti-cancer drugs to target and penetrate solid tumors effectively. Lisata has established significant partnerships based on its CendR Platform® technology and expects to reach numerous milestones in the next 1.5 years, with projected capital funding operations into early 2026.

Valo Therapeutics Oy, an immunotherapy company, develops tumor antigen-coated replication-competent viruses as cancer vaccines. Their PeptiCRAd platform, developed from Professor Vincenzo Cerullo's lab at the University of Helsinki, transforms oncolytic adenoviruses into powerful systemic anti-tumor immune activators. PeptiCRAd-1, their lead product, is in Phase 1 clinical testing with pembrolizumab for various cancers, including melanoma.

This collaboration between Lisata and ValoTx aims to leverage the strengths of both companies' technologies to develop more effective cancer treatments, addressing significant unmet needs in melanoma therapy.