Turnstone Biologics Announces Research Collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center to Advance Novel TIL Immunotherapies for Solid Tumor Indications

Collaboration focused on the development of Turnstone’s pipeline of tumor-reactive selected TILs in solid tumors, including melanoma, breast and colorectal cancers

Turnstone Biologics Corp., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of cancer immunotherapies, today announced that it has entered into a strategic multi-year research collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center (“Moffitt”) for pre-clinical development of investigational tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (“TIL”) therapies. The partnership will focus on new clinical candidates utilizing Turnstone’s next-generation selected TIL approach in multiple solid tumor types, in addition to IND submission of Turnstone’s lead TIL program, TIDAL-01.

“Moffitt has established itself as a leader in the development of cutting-edge cell-based therapies,” said Sammy Farah, Ph.D., MBA, President and CEO, Turnstone Biologics. “With Moffitt’s world leading researchers and unique capabilities to support translational research, we believe this collaboration will be crucial in bringing our transformative TIL therapies to people with cancer. We look forward to working closely with the team at Moffitt as we advance our innovative strategy in this field.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Moffitt will collaborate on the development of Turnstone’s pipeline of selected TILs for the identification, enrichment and expansion of neoantigen reactive TILs in solid tumor indications, including melanoma, breast and colorectal cancers. Furthermore, Turnstone will transfer their proprietary TIL manufacturing process to Moffitt to produce cell products for upcoming clinical studies of Turnstone’s TIL product candidates. Turnstone will provide financial support for research and development at Moffitt over the multi-year collaboration.

“Turnstone’s strong commitment to support its novel TIL platform and pipeline aligns on Moffitt’s expertise and singular focus on developing truly life altering cancer treatments,” said Shari Pilon-Thomas, Ph.D., Associate Member of the Immunology Department at Moffitt Cancer Center. “We are excited to collaborate with Turnstone to help propel the development of TIDAL-01 as well as progress investigation of multiple next-generation TIL immunotherapies with the potential to improve clinical outcomes for cancer patients.”

Turnstone’s lead TIL therapy candidate, TIDAL-01, builds on the success of clinically validated treatment protocols while enriching for the most relevant T-cells for tumor eradication, preserving broad antigen diversity and minimizing time to treatment for patients, with the ultimate goal of extending the benefit of TIL therapy across a wider range of solid tumor types. Turnstone aims to drive clinical efficacy in harder to treat, lower mutational burden cancer indications with its TIL platform. The TIDAL-01 program is expected to enter the clinic in early 2022.

About Turnstone Biologics

Turnstone Biologics, a privately held clinical stage biotech company, is developing breakthrough cancer immunotherapies by advancing two leading platforms, both independently and in combination, that drive innate and adaptive tumor immunity to provide benefit to the millions of cancer patients underserved by current treatment options.

Turnstone’s novel TIL therapy platform leverages clinically validated treatment protocols and has been specifically designed to extend beyond the use of bulk TILs to enrich for the most relevant T-cells for tumor eradication, preserving broad antigen diversity and minimizing time to treatment for patients. Turnstone is expecting the lead TIL therapy candidate, TIDAL-01, to enter the clinic in early 2022.

Their proprietary vaccinia virus platform is engineered to drive coordinated immune activation, potent viral activity and local expression of encoded therapeutics. The Company has an ongoing Phase 1/2a trial in solid tumors (RAPTOR) for its leading oncolytic virus candidate, RIVAL-01/TAK-605, which is being developed under a global collaboration with Takeda.

For more information, please visit www.turnstonebio.com, and follow Turnstone on LinkedIn.

About Moffitt Cancer Center

Moffitt is dedicated to one lifesaving mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. The Tampa-based facility is one of only 52 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s scientific excellence, multidisciplinary research, and robust training and education. Moffitt’s expert nursing staff is recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet® status, its highest distinction. With more than 7,500 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of $2.4 billion.

For more information, call 1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488), visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the momentum on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211129005249/en/