Intellia Therapeutics Presents New Preclinical Data Supporting Its CRISPR/Cas9-Engineered TCR-T Cell Treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia at the 62nd ASH Annual Meeting

• Lead immuno-oncology development candidate NTLA-5001 shows high anti-tumor activity as promising cancer treatment in proof-of-concept mouse models of acute leukemias
  
• Proprietary process enhances tumor control in preclinical models and enables efficient, scalable genome editing and T cell manufacturing for NTLA-5001
  
• First-in-human trial will evaluate safety and activity of NTLA-5001 in AML patients
  

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA), is presenting new preclinical data in support of NTLA-5001, the company’s wholly owned Wilms’ Tumor 1 (WT1)-directed T cell receptor (TCR)-T cell therapy candidate for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), at the 62^nd American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, taking place virtually from December 5-8, 2020. NTLA-5001 capitalizes on how natural T cells recognize and respond to tumors. The target, WT1, is highly overexpressed in AML, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that is often fatal despite existing treatments (NIH SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Leukemia – AML). The new preclinical data being presented today highlight the faster expansion and superior function of T cells manufactured by Intellia’s proprietary approach, compared to a standard genome editing process. Specifically, NTLA-5001’s lead TCR-T cells resulted in significantly higher anti-tumor activity in mouse models of acute leukemias than that observed in mice treated with cells engineered using the standard process.

“NTLA-5001 is the first potential CRISPR-based cancer treatment engineered using Intellia’s proprietary process. Based on our preclinical results, we believe our process will result in a pipeline of safer and more efficacious oncological products, with reduced manufacturing time and, importantly, reduced vein-to-vein time, compared to currently available approaches. Showing in vivo efficacy in acute leukemia mouse models, as presented today at ASH, is extremely encouraging and an important steppingstone to entering the clinic next year,” said Intellia President and Chief Executive Officer John Leonard, M.D. “In our first-in-human trial, we plan to establish the safety and activity that will enable us to move quickly to a pivotal investigation of NTLA-5001 for the treatment of AML, which is the most common type of acute leukemia in adults.”