Exhibit 99.1
ASX/Media Release (Code: ASX: IMM; NASDAQ: IMMP)
IMMUTEP GRANTED EUROPEAN PATENT FOR EFTILAGIMOD ALPHA IN CANCER
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA –22 August 2019 –Immutep Limited (ASX: IMM; NASDAQ: IMMP) (“Immutep“ or “the Company”), a biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapy treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases, is pleased to announce the grant of a new patent (number 2601962) entitled“LAG-3 dosage regime for use in the treatment of cancer” by the European Patent Office.
This European patent was filed as a divisional application, and follows the grant of the European parent patent and two other European divisional patents from the same family, as previously announced to the market. A divisional application is a subsequent application filed from either the original (parent) application or an earlier divisional application. This enables the applicant to file multiple (cascading) applications in the same family, with each application having claims of differing scope and whilst also preserving the filing date of the parent application for each divisional application.
This new patent provides further intellectual property protection for Immutep’s method of treating cancer by the administration of a plurality of doses of a recombinantLAG-3 protein, or a derivative thereof, which is used to generate a monocyte mediated immune response. Importantly, the granted patent claims support the application of eftilagimod alpha (“efti” or “IMP321”), which is a derivative ofLAG-3, in Immutep’s ongoing clinical trials, including AIPAC, TACTI-mel,TACTI-002 andINSIGHT-004. The patent will expire on 3 October 2028.
About Immutep
Immutep is a globally active biotechnology company that is a leader in the development of immunotherapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. Immutep is dedicated to leveraging its technology and expertise to bring innovative treatment options to market for patients and to maximize value to shareholders.
Immutep’s current lead product candidate is eftilagimod alpha (“efti” or “IMP321”), a solubleLAG-3Ig fusion protein based on theLAG-3 immune control mechanism. This mechanism plays a vital role in the regulation of the T cell immune response. Efti is currently in a Phase IIb clinical trial as a chemoimmunotherapy for metastatic breast cancer termed AIPAC (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02614833); a Phase II clinical trial being conducted in collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA (known as “MSD” outside the United States and Canada) referred to asTACTI-002 (Two ACTive Immunotherapies) to evaluate a combination of efti with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab) in several different solid tumours (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT03625323); a Phase I clinical trial being conducted in collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Pfizer Inc. referred to asINSIGHT-004 to evaluate a combination of efti with avelumab (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT03252938); and a Phase I combination therapy trial in metastatic melanoma termed TACTI-mel (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02676869).
