Heat Biologics
US biotech company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heat Biologics Inc. is a U.S. biotechnology company focused on the field of immunotherapy. Heat Biologics was founded by Jeff Wolf and Eckhard Podack, in conjunction with the University of Miami and Seed-One Ventures.[3] The company is based in Morrisville, North Carolina.[2]
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Nasdaq: HTBX[1] | |
| Industry | Biotechnology |
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Morrisville, North Carolina, U.S.[2] |
Area served | Morrisville, North Carolina,[2] New Brunswick, New Jersey,[2] and San Antonio, Texas, U.S.[2] |
Key people | Jeffrey Wolf (Founder and CEO) |
| Products | HS-110, HS-130, PTX-35 and COVID-19 program |
| Website | heatbio |
History
In 2008, Heat Biologics was founded by Jeff Wolf and Eckhard Podack, in conjunction with the University of Miami and Seed-One Ventures.[3] The company relocated to North Carolina in 2011.[2] NCBiotech provided $225,000 of initial funding the same year.[2]
On July 24, 2013, Heat Biologics stock went public on NASDAQ under ticker symbol HTBX.[1]
In 2017, Heat Biologics acquired an 80% controlling interest in Pelican Therapeutics.[4]
Morrisville, North Carolina became the company's headquarters in 2019.[2]
In 2020, the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami collaborated with Heat Biologics to develop a COVID-19 vaccine using gp-96 to express antigens associated with COVID-19.[5]
In 2021, Heat Biologics began Phase 2 clinical trials for a new non-small cell lung cancer treatment (HS-110). It also initiated a Phase 1 trial for HS-130, its off-the-shelf cell line engineered to stimulate T-cells to assist in immune response to disease.[2]
Pipeline products
HS-110
HS-110, also called viagenpumatucel-L, is in Phase II in NSCLC, in combination with cyclophosphamide. Another Phase I study is combining HS 110 with nivolumab and other checkpoint inhibitors.[6]
HS-130
HS-130 is in Phase I clinical trial for patients with solid tumors. HS-130 is an allogeneic (“off-the-shelf”) cell line engineered to express OX40 ligand fusion protein (OX40L-Fc). OX40 ligand is a key co-stimulator of T cells that augments antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses.[7]
COVID-19 Vaccine
The company initiated a COVID-19 vaccine collaboration with the University of Miami in March 2020 using their gp96 platform which activates the human immune system to combat infectious diseases with the potential of generating long-term immune responses.[8]
PTX-35
PTX-35 is in Phase I clinical trial for patients with solid tumors. PTX-35 is a potential first-in-class T cell co-stimulator targeting TNFRSF25 (Death Receptor 3). Favorable safety profile was demonstrated in mice and non-human primates. PTX-35's development plan focuses on cancer immunotherapy.[9]