NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Indaptus Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: INDP, “Indaptus” or “the Company”), a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing transformative therapeutics for patients, today announces the initiation of INDP-D101, its first-in-human, open label, dose escalation and expansion, multicenter Phase 1 clinical trial of its lead compound Decoy20 in patients with advanced/metastatic solid tumors. The USC Norris Cancer Center in Los Angeles, California is the first activated clinical trial site that has been opened for patient enrollment, and patient screening is expected soon.

The study’s objectives are to assess the safety and tolerability of Decoy20, to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D), as well as to assess Decoy20 pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics and clinical activity.

“The initiation of the dose-escalation part of our first-in-human Phase 1 trial of Decoy20 marks an important milestone in our early efforts to identify and study novel drugs for patients with solid tumors who have exhausted known life-prolonging treatment options and are thus facing poor prognosis. Based on the substantial preclinical data demonstrating safety and activity of Decoy20 alone and in combination with other oncology drugs, we are encouraged by the potential Decoy20 holds for those patients. In addition, evaluating Decoy20 in patients with advanced and metastatic solid tumors is an important initial step in our efforts to understand the potential of this investigational medicine to treat a broad range of cancers. We look forward to advancing to the expansion portion of the trial once the appropriate dose is identified,” said Boyan Litchev, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Indaptus.

The Phase 1 study will begin with a single dose escalation part followed by an expansion part with continuous administration of Decoy20. The study will enroll patients with advanced/metastatic solid tumors, who have exhausted the other known treatment options. More information can be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Primary endpoint of the study is incidence, relatedness and severity of adverse events and treatment-emergent adverse events and determining the number of subjects per cohort with dose limiting toxicity-based adverse events. Secondary endpoints include the incidence of anti-drug antibodies and neutralizing antibodies pre- and post-treatment, change in Decoy20 PK parameters over time, objective response rate in subjects with measurable disease and duration of response. More information can be found at www.clinicaltrials.gov.

“We believe the Decoy approach to immuno-oncology is an innovative and we are very proud of our rapid journey from our IND application to initiation of the study. We have designed a very flexible and comprehensive initial human trial for the compound, and we look forward to reporting initial cohort results in 2023. In the meantime, we wish to thank Dr. Michael Newman, the inventor of Decoy and our Chief Science Officer, Dr. Boyan Litchev, M.D. our Chief Medical Officer, the entire science and clinical development team, our talented investigators, and our participating centers for their dedication and collaboration toward initiating this trial,” added Jeffrey Meckler, Indaptus Therapeutics’ Chief Executive Officer.

About Indaptus Therapeutics

Indaptus Therapeutics has evolved from more than a century of immunotherapy advances. The Company’s novel approach is based on the hypothesis that efficient activation of both innate and adaptive immune cells and pathways and the associated anti-tumor and anti-viral immune responses will require a multi-targeted package of immune system activating signals that can be administered safely intravenously. Indaptus’ patented technology is composed of single strains of attenuated and killed, non-pathogenic, Gram-negative bacteria to produce a multiple TLR agonist Decoy platform, with expected reduced systemic toxicity, and ability to prime or activate many of the cells and pathways of innate and adaptive immunity. Decoy20 represents an antigen-agnostic technology that has produced in pre-clinical studies single agent activity against metastatic pancreatic and orthotopic colorectal carcinomas, single agent eradication of established, antigen-expressing breast carcinoma, as well as combination-mediated eradication of established hepatocellular carcinomas and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas with standard pre-clinical models, including syngeneic mouse tumors and human tumor xenografts. In those pre-clinical studies tumor eradication has been observed with Decoy products in combination with anti-PD-1 checkpoint therapy, low-dose chemotherapy, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug or an approved targeted antibody. Combination-based tumor eradication produces innate and adaptive immunological memory, involves activation of both innate and adaptive immune cells and is associated with induction of innate and adaptive immune pathways in tumors after only one i.v. dose of Decoy product, with associated “cold” to “hot” tumor inflammation signature transition. IND-enabling toxicology studies have demonstrated safe i.v. administration, with no sustained induction of hallmarks of cytokine release syndromes, possibly due to passive targeting to liver, spleen and tumor, followed by rapid elimination of the product. Indaptus products have also produced significant single agent activity against chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and chronic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in pre-clinical models.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements with the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These include statements regarding management’s expectations, beliefs and intentions regarding, among other things, our product development efforts, business, financial condition, results of operations, strategies, plans and prospects. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “believe”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “may”, “should”, “could”, “might”, “seek”, “target”, “will”, “project”, “forecast”, “continue” or “anticipate” or their negatives or variations of these words or other comparable words or by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical matters. Forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our plans to develop and potentially commercialize its technology, the timing and cost of our planned investigational new drug application and any clinical trials, the completion and receiving favorable results in any clinical trials, Indaptus’ ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of any product candidate, our ability to protect and maintain its intellectual property and licensing arrangements, our ability to develop, manufacture and commercialize its product candidates, the risk of product liability claims, the availability of reimbursement, the influence of extensive and costly government regulation, and our estimates regarding future revenue, expenses capital requirements and the need for additional financing. More detailed information about the risks and uncertainties affecting us is contained under the heading “Risk Factors” included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 21, 2022, and in other filings that we have made and may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this press release. We undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by applicable law.