Cue Biopharma and ImmunoScape Announce Strategic Collaboration to Develop Breakthrough Cell Therapy Approach for Solid Tumors

• Exclusive collaboration and license agreement focuses on advancing novel T cell therapy “Seed-and-Boost” approach exploiting the mechanism of the CUE-100 series of Immuno-STATs®
  
• Novel therapeutic approach is designed to enable in vivo expansion and activation of infused T cell receptor engineered T cells (TCR-Ts) to provide durability, tolerability and enhanced clinical benefit while reducing manufacturing complexity
  
• Compelling data generated in preclinical models of multiple solid tumors, including pancreatic and ovarian, demonstrates the clinical potential of this novel immunotherapy approach with IND-enabling studies on track for 2027 submission

Excerpt from the Press Release:

BOSTON and SINGAPORE, Nov. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cue Biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: CUE), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of therapeutic biologics to selectively engage and modulate disease-specific T cells for the treatment of autoimmune disease and cancer, and ImmunoScape, Pte. Ltd, a biotechnology company developing next-generation T cell receptor (TCR)-based therapies in oncology, today announced that they have entered into a collaboration and license agreement to advance a novel in vivo approach to cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumors. Under the agreement, ImmunoScape will develop a novel Seed-and-Boost immunotherapy that combines Cue Biopharma’s clinically-validated Immuno-STAT T-cell engagers, the CUE-100 series, with ImmunoScape’s proprietary TCRs. The combination therapy is designed to overcome core limitations of existing cell therapies with the potential for establishing a breakthrough standard of care with superior anti-tumor activity, durable T cell persistence and product scalability.

With this Seed-and-Boost approach to immunotherapy, a minimal starting dose of ImmunoScape’s tumor-specific TCR-Ts are administered to the patient (Seed) followed by the administration of Cue Biopharma’s TCR matched IL-2 Immuno-STAT molecules (Boost). TCR-selective engagement is designed to enable targeted expansion and activation in the patient while avoiding systemic immune activation and the off-the-shelf Immuno-STAT dosing to allow for precise in vivo modulation of the tumor-specific T cell response to enhance efficacy, persistence and tumor infiltration while mitigating T cell exhaustion. By requiring only small starting numbers of engineered T cells, this strategy simplifies manufacturing and aims to deliver deeper and durable clinical efficacy for patients along with improved tolerability and quality of life. This promising breakthrough approach is supported by a comprehensive preclinical data package from both companies.

The CUE-100 series is a novel class of injectable biologics that leverage the specificity of a TCR, enabling selective engagement and activation of targeted disease-specific T cells. The core protein framework of the Immuno-STAT molecules facilitates engagement with the TCR, fostering TCR signaling while concurrently delivering Interleukin-2 (IL-2) as the key second costimulatory molecule for selective T cell activation and expansion.

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