Our lead candidate, BOXR1030, uniquely combines the GOT2 transgene of the proprietary BOXR platform, a critical enzyme involved in cellular metabolism, with CAR T technology targeting GPC3-expressing tumors. BOXR1030 is a next generation CAR T cell therapy which benefits from its enhanced T cell metabolism in the solid tumor microenvironment.
SOTIO has demonstrated strong preclinical evidence in models that simulated the solid tumor microenvironment. In vitro, BOXR1030 T cells resisted suppressive tumor microenvironment-like conditions and improved T cell proliferation under both hypoxic and low glucose conditions compared with standard CAR T cells.
Multiple in vivo models with BOXR1030 demonstrated superior activity compared to standard CAR T cell therapies with treated animals achieving complete tumor regression. BOXR1030 cells were shown to be more resistant to dysfunction with fewer markers of exhaustion compared to the control CAR T cells isolated from the tumors of treated animals. In vivo models were intentionally designed to be stringent, mimicking the minimal efficacy of standard CAR T therapies today.
Initial indications for BOXR1030 include hepatocellular carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and myxoid/round cell liposarcoma.
BOXR1030 entered the clinic in 2023 with Phase 1/2 DUET-01 clinical trial (NCT05120271). BOXR1030 is the lead candidate from SOTIO’s BOXR cell therapy platform.