TransCode Therapeutics Announces Expansion of Global RNA Oncology Patent Portfolio

BOSTON, Feb. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TransCode Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNAZ), the RNA oncology company committed to defeating cancer using RNA therapeutics, today announced that it has filed an International PCT Application (PCT/US21/65580) entitled TEMPLATE DIRECTED IMMUNOMODULATION FOR CANCER THERAPY (the ‘580 application).

The ‘580 application, expected to publish in June 2022, represents an extension of TransCode’s use of its patented RNA therapeutic platform to include using pattern recognition receptors (PRR) to target tumor cells by activating the RIG-I signaling pathway. Once inside a cell, the selected PRR-activating oligonucleotide encounters a microRNA specific to that tumor, activating a type I interferon-driven immune response, leading to programmed tumor cell death. TransCode’s CEO, Michael Dudley, said, “We believe that by eliciting tumor cell death through RIG-I, this technology could become an important approach to how we potentially treat cancer. Activating the RIG-I mechanism has the potential of building immunological memory and giving patients’ immune systems the ability to reject tumors as though they were foreign bodies.”

The filing of the ‘580 application directly supports TransCode’s goals of deploying the right therapy for individual cancer patients. If issued, the proposed patent would join a number of other granted patents TransCode owns or licenses, including US 9,629,812 and EP 2 961 386. As part of its overall patent strategy, TransCode is actively pursuing intellectual property protection for additional components of its discovery engine built around its TTX delivery platform. The TTX platform is currently comprised of a hemodynamic and metabolic tumor targeting delivery system suitable for deploying a variety of RNA therapeutic candidates including RNAi, pattern recognition receptors, messenger RNA, gene repair/replacement and radiolabeled therapeutics.

Dudley added, “While we are focused on advancing TTX-MC138, our lead therapeutic candidate targeting microRNA-10b, into first-in-human studies, we are excited by our platform’s potential to be used more broadly in a variety of RNA approaches to target genes responsible for cancer. MicroRNA-10b has been shown to be a master regulator of metastatic cell viability in a number of solid tumor types. The approach represented by the ’580 application filing, if successful in development, could expand our ability to deploy the right therapy for individual patients using both the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities our platform offers.”

About TransCode Therapeutics

TransCode is an RNA oncology company created on the belief that cancer can be defeated using RNA therapeutics. The Company has created a platform of drug candidates designed to target a variety of tumor types with the objective of significantly improving patient outcomes. The Company’s lead therapeutic candidate, TTX-MC138, is focused on treating metastatic cancer, which is believed to cause approximately 90% of all cancer deaths totaling over nine million per year worldwide. The Company believes that TTX-MC138 has the potential to produce regression without recurrence in a range of cancers, including breast, pancreatic, ovarian and colon cancer, glioblastomas and others. Two of the Company’s other drug candidates, TTX-siPDL1 and TTX-siLIN28b, focus on treating tumors by targeting PD-L1 and Lin28b, respectively. The Company is also developing other therapeutic candidates and diagnostic products related to its planned therapeutics business.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, statements concerning the timing and outcome of expected regulatory filings and clinical trials, including the filing of an eIND for the planned first-in-human study of TTX-MC138, statements concerning the timing and outcome of this study, including whether this study will demonstrate proof-of-concept, statements concerning patent applications, and statements concerning TransCode’s development programs and TTX technology platform generally. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk associated with drug discovery and development; the risk that the results of our planned clinical trials will not be consistent with our pre-clinical studies or expectations; risks associated with the timing and outcome of TransCode s planned regulatory submissions; risks associated with TransCode’s planned clinical trials for its product candidates; risks associated with obtaining, maintaining and protecting intellectual property; risks associated with TransCode’s ability to enforce its patents against infringers and defend its patent portfolio against challenges from third parties; the risk of competition from other companies developing products for similar uses; risks associated with TransCode’s financial condition and its need to obtain additional funding to support its business activities, including TransCode’s ability to continue as a going concern; risks associated with TransCode’s dependence on third parties; and risks associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause TransCode’s actual results to differ from those contained in or implied by the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in TransCode’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2021, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and other important factors in any subsequent TransCode filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release; TransCode undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

For more information, please contact:

TransCode Therapeutics, Inc.

Alan Freidman, VP Investor Relations