CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- F-star Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSTX) (“F-star” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing next generation immunotherapies to transform the lives of patients with cancer, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted the Company a patent (U.S. Patent No. 11,033,569) protecting the composition of matter of F-star’s SB 11285, a second generation STING agonist. The patent protection is expected to continue to July 2037, not including any potential patent term extensions.

Neil Brewis, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of F-star, said: “We are encouraged by the latest interim results from the dose-escalation study of SB 11285. Securing patent protection in the U.S. at this critical time in the development of our second-generation STING agonist will ensure advancement of the compound with exclusivity in our approach.”

About SB 11285

F-star’s SB 11285 is differentiated from the first generation of STING agonists, as it is delivered systemically, enabling access to hard-to-reach tumors. Additionally, SB 11285 may facilitate migration of newly activated immune cells from the periphery into the tumor site. Importantly, SB 11285 is active against common STING variants and has demonstrated, in vivo, uptake into the targeted immune cells and has shown long lasting and complete tumor regression in preclinical models.

SB 11285 is being studied in an ongoing multicenter clinical trial (NCT04096638) evaluating the safety and efficacy of intravenously (IV) administered SB 11285 alone and in combination with the anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody, atezolizumab, in patients with advanced solid tumors. Interim results announced last month showed that SB 11285 appeared to be well tolerated both alone and in combination with atezolizumab across all dose levels tested to-date.

About F-star Therapeutics, Inc.

F-star is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing tetravalent bispecific antibodies for a paradigm shift in cancer therapy. By developing medicines that seek to block tumor immune evasion, the Company’s goal is to offer patients greater and more durable benefits than current immuno-oncology treatments. Through its proprietary tetravalent, bispecific natural antibody (mAb²™) format, F-star’s mission is to generate highly differentiated best-in-class drug candidates with monoclonal antibody-like manufacturability. For more information visit www.f-star.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.