• Data is being presented at 2023 American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting

MARLBOROUGH, Mass., May 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: PHIO), a clinical stage biotechnology company whose proprietary INTASYL™ RNAi platform technology is designed to make immune cells more effective in killing tumor cells, today announced pre-clinical data demonstrating that using INTASYL to silence TIGIT and CBL-B may be used to improve the anti-tumor response of NK cells, creating a more effective cell therapy for treating cancer.

NK cells are the body's first line of defense against cancer. Unlike T cells, NK cells can recognize and kill tumor cells without prior exposure. Incorporating INTASYL's RNAi treatment into ex vivo NK cell expansion protocols prior to adoptive cell therapy (ACT) is a strategy to reduce the expression of inhibitory proteins such as TIGIT or CBL-B to improve anti-tumor response.

"These data demonstrate the power of the INTASYL platform to enhance the activity of adoptive cell therapies to better address cancer," said James Cardia, Phio's VP of Discovery. "Furthermore, these studies in addition to recent studies with PH-762 and PH-894, highlight the multiple applications of INTASYL, for both direct therapeutic applications as well as in combination with ACT therapy. INTASYL has the broad applicability to silence not only extracellular targets (TIGIT) but also intracellular targets that antibodies cannot address (CBL-B)."

About Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp.

Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: PHIO) is a clinical stage biotechnology company whose proprietary INTASYL™ RNAi technology is designed to make immune cells more effective in killing tumor cells. INTASYL is the only self-delivering RNAi technology focused on immuno-oncology therapeutics. INTASYL drugs precisely target specific proteins that reduce the body's ability to fight cancer, without the need for specialized formulations or drug delivery systems.

For additional information, visit the Company's website, www.phiopharma.com.   

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "intends," "believes," "anticipates," "indicates," "plans," "expects," "suggests," "may," "would," "should," "potential," "designed to," "will," "ongoing," "estimate," "forecast," "target," "predict," "could" and similar references, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Examples of forward looking statements include statements regarding TIGIT and CBL-B targeting INTASYL's potential to provide an effective cell therapy treatment with an improved anti-tumor response of NK cells. Our actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of important factors, including, but not limited to, the impact to our business and operations by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, military conflict between Ukraine and Russia, inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, recession fears, the development of our product candidates, results from our preclinical and clinical activities, our ability to execute on business strategies, our ability to develop our product candidates with collaboration partners, and the success of any such collaborations, the timeline and duration for advancing our product candidates into clinical development, the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, the success of our efforts to commercialize our product candidates if approved, our ability to manufacture and supply our product candidates for clinical activities, and for commercial use if approved, the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our technology platform, our ability to obtain future financing, market and other conditions and those identified in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q under the caption "Risk Factors" and in other filings the Company periodically makes with the SEC. Readers are urged to review these risk factors and to not act in reliance on any forward-looking statements, as actual results may differ from those contemplated by our forward-looking statements. Phio does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect a change in its views, events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by law.

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Investor Contact
Ashley R. Robinson 
LifeSci Advisors
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