TScan Therapeutics to Present Discovery of T Cell Targets for COVID-19 at the Cell-Mediated Therapies for Infectious Disease Summit

WALTHAM, Mass., July 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TScan Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TCRX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of T-cell receptor (TCR) engineered T cell therapies (TCR-T) for the treatment of patients with cancer, today announced that Gavin MacBeath, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at TScan, will present the findings of TScan’s work to discover the targets of T cells in recovering COVID-19 patients at the Cell-Mediated Therapies for Infectious Disease Summit. The Company published these targets in an October 2020 paper in Immunity, showcasing the power of the company’s high-throughput T-cell target discovery platform, TargetScan. The presentation will also feature in vitro data comparing several polyepitope T-cell vaccine candidates based on the Company’s novel T cell target discoveries.

“The widespread emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 reinforces the need for next-generation vaccines and treatments that elicit a more natural T cell response to promote long-term immunity to the virus,” said Dr. MacBeath. “Our TargetScan technology was able to quickly identify the precise epitope targets in the novel coronavirus that are recognized by the T cells of convalescent patients. We found that these epitopes mostly reside in conserved regions of the virus which are located outside of the Spike protein, and almost none of the mutations observed in the virus to date, including those found in the Delta variant, occur in the novel epitopes identified by TScan. Early studies of vaccine constructs designed with our T cell targets have shown promising in vitro results that warrant continued research in pursuit of second-generation vaccines to assist in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.”

As previously disclosed, TScan has licensed use of these immunodominant epitopes to QIAGEN Sciences, LLC to develop T-cell based tests to detect prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2. The Company has also licensed the TCR sequences discovered during this research to Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. to develop allogeneic T-cell therapies for COVID-19. In addition, TScan is exploring how its findings can also be used to develop next-generation vaccines for COVID-19.

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Title: Discovery of Immunodominant T Cell Targets in COVID-19 Patients and Design of Novel T Cell-Based Vaccines
Presenter: Gavin MacBeath, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, TScan Therapeutics
Date and Time: Thursday, July 22, 2021 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time
Session Type: Oral

A copy of the presentation will be available on the “Publications” section of TScan’s website at the conclusion of the presentation.

About TScan Therapeutics, Inc.

TScan is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of T-cell receptor (TCR) engineered T cell therapies (TCR-T) for the treatment of patients with cancer. The company’s lead liquid tumor TCR-T therapy candidates, TSC-100 and TSC-101, are in development for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies to eliminate residual leukemia and prevent relapse after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The company is also developing multiplexed TCR-T therapy candidates for the treatment of various solid tumors.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding possible or assumed future results of operations of TScan Therapeutics, Inc., expenses and financing needs, business strategies and plans, research and development plans or expectations, the structure, timing and success of the Company’s planned preclinical development and clinical trials, expected milestones, market sizing, competitive position, regulatory matters, industry environment and potential growth opportunities, among other things. TScan intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as, but not limited to, “may,” “might,” “will,” “objective,” “intend,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “would,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “project,” “target,” “design,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “plan” or similar expressions or the negative of those terms. Such forward-looking statements are based upon current expectations that involve risks, changes in circumstances, assumptions, and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in TScan's forward-looking statements include, among others, the beneficial characteristics, safety, efficacy, therapeutic effects and potential advantages of TScan’s TCR-T therapy candidates; TScan’s expectations regarding its preclinical studies being predictive of clinical trial results; the timing of the initiation, progress and expected results of TScan’s preclinical studies, clinical trials and its research and development programs; TScan’s plans relating to developing and commercializing its TCR-T therapy candidates, if approved, including sales strategy; estimates of the size of the addressable market for TScan’s TCR-T therapy candidates; TScan’s manufacturing capabilities and the scalable nature of its manufacturing process; TScan’s estimates regarding expenses, future milestone payments and revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; TScan’s expectations regarding competition; TScan’s anticipated growth strategies; TScan’s ability to attract or retain key personnel; TScan’s ability to establish and maintain development partnerships and collaborations; TScan’s expectations regarding federal, state and foreign regulatory requirements; TScan’s ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its proprietary platform technology and our product candidates; the sufficiency of TScan’s existing capital resources to fund its future operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements; and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, including mitigation efforts and political, economic, legal and social effects, on any of the foregoing or other aspects of TScan’s business or operations; and other factors that are described in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of TScan's Final Prospectus for its initial public offering, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and available on the SEC's website at https://www.sec.gov/. Additional factors may be described in those sections of TScan's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, expected to be filed with the SEC in the third quarter of 2021.

In addition to the risks described above and in TScan's other filings with the SEC, other unknown or unpredictable factors also could affect TScan's results. No forward-looking statements can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from such statements. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and TScan undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contacts

Media Contact:
David Rosen
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
david.rosen@argotpartners.com

Investor Contact:
Sherri Spear
Argot Partners
212-600-1902
sherri@argotpartners.com