Alector Enters into a Licensing Agreement with Innovent Biologics to Develop and Commercialize AL008 in Oncology Indications in China

• AL008 is Alector’s dual function SIRP-alpha inhibitor and Fc gamma receptor activator antibody targeting the innate immune system for oncology indications
  
• The partnership with Innovent enables Alector to continue to expedite global development of it's immuno-oncology pipeline

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alector, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALEC), a clinical stage biotechnology company and leader in the discovery and development of therapeutics that harness the innate immune system, and Innovent Biologics, a leading Chinese biopharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes high quality medicines for the treatment of oncology, autoimmune, metabolic and other major diseases, jointly announced today the execution of a regional licensing agreement to develop and commercialize AL008 for oncology indications in China.

“Innovent is a leading biopharmaceutical company in China, and we have been impressed with the diligence and speed with which the Innovent team has advanced oncology development programs to commercialization. We will be partnering closely with Innovent to rapidly advance AL008 into clinical development in China,” said Arnon Rosenthal, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Alector. “We believe AL008, our dual-function SIRP-alpha inhibitor and Fc gamma receptor activator antibody has the potential to be best-in-class, and we look forward to testing its safety and efficacy in the clinic with Innovent. In addition, we will continue to develop AL008 globally to bring this novel therapeutic to the patients that need it the most.”

AL008 is a novel antibody product candidate targeting the CD47-SIRP-alpha pathway, a potent survival pathway co-opted by tumors to evade the innate immune system. AL008 is a potential best-in-class SIRP-alpha inhibitor with a unique dual mechanism of action that non‑competitively antagonizes the CD47-SIRP-alpha pathway by inducing the internalization and degradation of the inhibitory receptor on macrophages to relieve immune suppression (a “don’t eat me signal”) while also engaging Fc gamma, an activating receptor, to promote immuno-stimulatory pathways that drive anti-tumor immunity.