CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Enumeral Biomedical Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:ENUM), today announced that the company signed an agreement with the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University as part of Enumeral’s Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Enumeral is developing an advanced, automated prototype system for human tissue immuno-oncology profiling, which will be deployed in the laboratory of Douglas S. Kwon, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Ragon Institute. Enumeral recently announced an agreement to place the system with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
“We believe that an automated profiling system will take significant steps toward streamlining our processes, increasing throughput and, importantly, allowing us to interrogate the human immune microenvironment at the cellular level,” said Dr. Kwon.
Dr. Kwon’s research focuses on the immunology of mucosal surfaces and tissues, which are home to between 60 and 90 percent of the body’s lymphocytes, which are primary disease-fighting white blood cells. Studying these immunological compartments in human patients relies on “small volume” clinical specimens such as core biopsy, which often contain limited numbers of cells and can be challenging to analyze with conventional technologies.
“We are excited to expand our relationship into a formal collaboration with Dr. Kwon, given his expertise in human mucosal immunology as well as his lab’s familiarity with our platform through his work with our scientific founder at MIT,” said Arthur H. Tinkelenberg, Ph.D., President and CEO of Enumeral. "This collaboration with the Ragon Institute may broadly impact our understanding of the fundamental biology of the human mucosal immune microenvironment, which in turn could impact the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases and cancers."
Enumeral’s collaboration with the Ragon Institute is supported by a Phase II SBIR contract from the NCI for $999,967 over two years. The NCI is funding the entirety of the program, which complements Enumeral’s other internal research and development efforts. Enumeral generated proof of concept in this area under a Phase I contract in 2012 and 2013.
About Enumeral’s Human-driven Immune Profiling Platform
Enumeral’s human-driven immune profiling platform is enabling and accelerating the discovery and development of novel antibody immunotherapies, or immunomodulators. The core technology behind Enumeral’s platform was developed at and licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Enumeral performs measurements on single immune cells from patient-derived biopsy samples for information that is difficult to obtain using other methods and that may guide the development of effective therapeutics and diagnostics. The efficiency and sensitivity provided through the platform increases the probability of measuring rare immune cells associated with disease or drug response. Studying rare immune cells obtained directly from human patients for their functional responses can potentially lead to selection of best-in-class antibody drug candidates that may have a higher likelihood of successful development. Such knowledge generated from Enumeral's platform is being applied to better understand which drug candidates might work in which patients, and, at what stage of disease.
About Enumeral
Enumeral is discovering and developing novel antibody immunotherapies that help the immune system attack diseased cells. We believe we have a unique ability to extensively interrogate the human immune microenvironment for candidate selection and validation. We believe our unique capabilities enable us to measure drug effects in a patient-specific manner, providing the basis for developing best-in-class product candidates, based on a fundamental understanding of how immunotherapies work in each patient. We are building a pipeline of immunomodulators for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases and leveraging the breadth of our technology through strategic collaborations. www.enumeral.com
Forward Looking Statements Disclosure
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such statements reflect current beliefs of Enumeral Biomedical Holdings, Inc. (“Enumeral”) with respect to future events and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors affecting operations, market growth, services, products and licenses. No assurances can be given regarding the achievement of future results, and although Enumeral believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may differ from the assumptions underlying the statements that have been made regarding anticipated events. More detailed information about Enumeral and risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements in this press release, is set forth in Enumeral’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Enumeral urges investors and security holders to read those documents free of charge at the Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements speak only as to the date they are made, and except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Enumeral undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.