8:25 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

8:30 am Dual CD47 Blockade & CD40 Immune Activation in Patients Treated With SL-172154 (SIRPα-Fc-CD40L), Results in M1 Macrophage Polarization & Evidence of Adaptive Immune Activation, Including Increased CD8 & GZMB in the TME

Synopsis

  • SL-172154, a hexameric bi-functional fusion protein consisting of SIRPα linked to CD40L via an inert Fc domain, was designed to simultaneously block CD47 and provide immune co-stimulation to CD40+ immune cells
  • SL-172154 was tolerable as a monotherapy in patients with heavily pretreated platinum resistant ovarian cancers, and subsequently expanded into combination studies with liposomal doxorubicin or mirvetuximab soravtansine
  • Consistent with preclinical findings, high receptor occupancy to both targets, B cell/ monocyte activation and margination, increased innate and adaptive serum cytokines, and M1 macrophage polarization in the TME, have also been observed in patients treated with SL-172154

Establishing Proof of Concept & Clinical Validation to Determine the Fate of Macrophage Therapies

9:00 am Macrophage Cell Therapies: CARs & Beyond

Synopsis

  • Review the development of CAR-M for solid tumors
  • Evaluate next generation approaches
  • Beyond CAR: Targeting aberrant cytokine signaling

9:30 am VISTA-101 – A Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial of KVA12123, an Engineered IgG1 Targeting VISTA, Alone & in Combination With Pembrolizumab in Advanced Solid Tumors

Synopsis

  • The primary objective of the study is to assess safety and tolerability at increasing dose levels of KVA12123 in successive cohorts of adult patients (alone and in combination with pembrolizumab) with advanced relapsed or refractory solid tumors, to estimate the maximal tolerated dose (MTD) or select the recommended phase 2 doses (RP2Ds)
  • Secondary objectives include characterizing PK, immunogenicity, and preliminary antitumor activity
  • Biomarker evaluation includes receptor occupancy, changes in immune cell markers and VISTA expression on collected biopsies

10:30 am Morning Refreshment Break & Speed Networking

Synopsis

Connect with all your fellow macrophage peers! This is your opportunity to network and forge new contacts with experts in the industry. Join speed networking to meet a broad spectrum of attendees at the summit, and exchange details to catch up later in the event.

Reinventing Clinical Translation Through Novel Preclinical Models

11:30 am Utilizing Effective Models That Recapitulate Human Macrophages to Determine Mechanism of Action in the Preclinical Setting

Synopsis

  • Applying macrophage and tumor biology to animal models to create a recapitulative environment to an in vivo human setting
  • Employing humanized mice with tumor grafts to demonstrate clinical proof of concept
  • Distinguishing areas for improvement to shape and overcome hurdles in current models

12:30 pm Round Table Discussion:Moving Beyond Animal Models

Synopsis

  • Following novel FDA guidance, explore the range of non-animal preclinical models to discuss applications for macrophage therapies
  • Discuss various applications of in vivo and ex vivo models to macrophage therapies and advantages of each
  • How can we leverage next-generation tumoroid and organoid models to demonstrate preclinical proof of concept and safety?

Producing Scalable CAR-Macrophage & Adoptive Cell Therapies to Increase Accessibility

1:00 pm Lunch Break & Networking

2:00 pm Leveraging iPSCs as a Starting Material to Create Scalable CAR-Macrophage Therapies

  • David Rodgers Senior Director Immunology, Shoreline Biosciences

Synopsis

  • Mediating efficient gene editing of iPSC
  • Characterizing iPSC derived Macrophages
  • Engineering iMACs for oncology and beyond 

2:30 pm Breakthrough Macrophage Based Immunotherapy for Treatment of Solid Tumors

Synopsis

  • Macrophage Drug Conjugates (MDCs) are an innovative allogeneic therapy for solid tumors
  • Examine how MDCs eliminate or significantly shrink tumors in mouse models, including orthotopic human cancer models in SCID mice
  • Gain an update on the first MDC drug candidate, expected to enter human clinical trials for glioblastoma in 2024

3:00 pm Afternoon Break & Poster Session

Synopsis

This is the perfect opportunity to contribute to the conversation and share your cuttingedge research with this community while discovering exciting work carried out by your peers. Get in touch if you would like to be involved!

Unlocking Macrophage Biology to Determine & Turbocharge Mechanism of Action

3:45 pm Immunological First Principles: When Unleashed, Macrophages Drive Multimodal Anti-Tumor Responses Without Genetic Modification

  • Nathanael McCurley Co-founder & Vice President - Research & Development, SIRPant ImmunoTherapeutics

Synopsis

  • Diminution of SIRPα activity on macrophages promotes neo-antigen-specific polyclonal T cell and antibody responses in adverse environments including the TME
  • Autologous ex-vivo generated macrophages promote anti-tumor effects that cannot be recapitulated with biologics administered to macrophages in vivo
  • A Phase 1 clinical trial will evaluate SIRPant-M™ in patients with relapsed/refractory NHL

4:15 pm Harnessing Macrophages in Advanced Breast Cancer to Combat Drug-Resistance

Synopsis

  • Characterizing macrophage phenotype in metastatic breast cancer to uncover suppressive pathways
  • Targeting TAMs in triple negative breast cancer to remove immunosuppression
  • Exploring novel TAM pathways to overcome tumor resistance

4:45 pm Targeting Macrophage Vulnerabilities for Cancer Therapy

Synopsis

  • Explore the role of myeloid cell trafficking in cancer progression
  • Discuss macrophage proliferation in cancer
  • Uncover selective macrophage targets in cancer therapy

4:45 pm Close of Conference Day One