Genprex (NASDAQ: GNPX), a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes, has signed an exclusive license agreement with the University of Pittsburgh. The agreement grants Genprex worldwide, exclusive rights to a patent application and related technology for a gene therapy targeting both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The therapy utilizes Pdx1 (“Pdx1”) and MafA (“MafA”) genes controlled by an MafB (“MafB”) promoter and administered through an adeno-associated virus (“AAV”) vector directly into the pancreatic duct. Preclinical data from nonhuman primate models of type 1 diabetes show promising results, with significant decreases in insulin requirements, increased c-peptide levels and improved glucose tolerance. The addition of this technology strengthens Genprex’s diabetes gene therapy program, and the company aims to optimize the product candidates through further preclinical studies. “We are continuing to build a fortress of protection and a powerful intellectual property portfolio for our diabetes gene therapy program,” said Genprex president and CEO Rodney Varner in the press release. “The addition of this license to MafB promoter technology expands and strengthens the potential for this novel, gene therapy to treat type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In licensing this latest exclusive technology, which joins several others that provide us with multiple diabetes gene therapy combinations, we have valuable rights over what we believe are the most innovative, emerging diabetes gene therapies.”
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About Genprex Inc.
Genprex is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes. Genprex’s technologies are designed to administer disease-fighting genes to provide new therapies for large patient populations with cancer and diabetes, which currently have limited treatment options. Genprex works with world-class institutions and collaborators to develop drug candidates to further its pipeline of gene therapies in order to provide novel treatment approaches. Genprex’s oncology program utilizes its proprietary, nonviral ONCOPREX(R) Nanoparticle Delivery System, which encapsulates the gene-expressing plasmids using lipid nanoparticles. The resultant product is then administered intravenously, where it is taken up by tumor cells that then express tumor suppressor proteins that are deficient in the tumor. The company’s lead product candidate, REQORSA (quaratusugene ozeplasmid), is being evaluated in three clinical trials as a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”) and small cell lung cancer (“SCLC”). Each of NSCLC’s three lung cancer clinical programs have received a fast-track designation from the Food and Drug Administration. Genprex’s diabetes gene therapy approach is comprised of a novel infusion process that uses an adeno-associated virus (“AAV”) vector to deliver Pdx1 (“Pdx1”) and MafA (“MafA”) genes directly to the pancreas. In models of type 1 diabetes, GPX-002 transforms alpha cells in the pancreas into functional beta-like cells, which can produce insulin but are distinct enough from beta cells to evade the body’s immune system. In a similar approach, GPX-003 for type 2 diabetes, where autoimmunity is not at play, is believed to rejuvenate and replenish exhausted beta cells. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.Genprex.com.
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