Annate Awarded $400K NCI SBIR Phase I Grant to Advance ANN-01M

Annate Bitherapeutics is excited to share that the company has been awarded a $400K SBIR Phase I grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to advance ANN-01M, our lead bispecific antibody program for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).

ANN-01M is a first-in-class bispecific antibody designed to capture endogenous ApoL1-complexes circulating in the blood and deliver them directly into myeloma cells, triggering tumor cell death through a mechanism that is immune-cell-independent.

Because ANN-01M does not rely on a patient’s T cells, or any other immune cell population, to work, this approach is designed to sidestep two of the biggest limitations facing today’s myeloma immunotherapies: the patient-fitness bar that keeps many patients from qualifying for CAR-T, and the immune cell exhaustion that can blunt bispecific T-cell engagers over time.

This award will support continued preclinical validation of ANN-01M, including in vitro and advanced in vivo efficacy studies and work toward IND-enabling data.

Annate is grateful to the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute for this support, and to the scientific and clinical guidance of our consulting team, including Gregory Lesinski, PhD, Ajay Nooka, MD, Brian Longstreet, and Marty Moore, PhD. We also thank Melissa Li, PhD, for her encouragement and advice throughout this journey.

Track along with us as we work to advance ANN-01M toward the clinic.

Read the original update on LinkedIn: Eric DeJesus, PhD, on LinkedIn