Heat Biologics Unveils Skunkworx Bio, New Drug Discovery Subsidiary
August 26 2021 - 8:00AM
Heat Biologics, Inc. (“Heat”)
(NASDAQ: HTBX), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on developing first-in-class
therapies to modulate the immune system, today announced the launch
of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Skunkworx Bio, Inc. (“Skunkworx”),
focused on the development of a drug discovery paradigm to enable
rapid drug development.
Skunkworx’s unique, highly diverse, proprietary
libraries of “Pocket Biologics” are used to identify miniature
proteins which bind to critical domains of druggable targets. The
Skunkworx approach aims to enable rapid drug discovery and
validation of new innovative therapeutics utilizing advanced
computational methods and bioinformatics to further enhance target
precision. Skunkworx has successfully identified agonists and
antagonists for a number of targets and is in the process of
progressing several of these assets through preclinical
studies.
Matt Seavey, Ph.D., Skunkworx’s Executive
Director of Scientific Operations, commented, “Our unique process
flips the paradigm of drug discovery, as it enables us to rapidly
identify novel drug targets to determine if a target is druggable.
By utilizing this approach, we have been able to identify lead
targets and already have several promising programs underway.”
Jeff Wolf, Chief Executive Officer of Heat,
commented, “We are extremely proud to launch Skunkworx, an
innovative platform to accelerate the path from discovery to
preclinical development. Skunkworx augments Heat’s emerging drug
development ecosystem designed to efficiently move new biologic
programs from discovery into the clinic. New programs will be
discovered through Skunkworx, developed at Heat and manufactured at
Scorpion Biological Services, Heat’s wholly owned manufacturing
subsidiary. This integrated platform is focused on driving
innovation by rapidly accelerating the drug development process. We
look forward to working with Skunkworx to advance a wide repertoire
of drugs across a wide variety of indications, including
biosecurity applications, an area of growing importance.”
About Skunkworx Bio.Skunkworx
Bio is developing a new era of precision medicines where “Biology
drives Innovation.” The Company’s “Pocket Biologics” are
therapeutics derived from its antibody and small protein libraries.
Skunkworx has integrated computational and bioinformatic analysis
to its biology-based drug discovery paradigm. The goal is to
“accelerate” the time from discovery to moving its drug leads into
formal preclinical development. For more information, please visit:
www.skunkworx.bio.
About Heat Biologics, Inc.Heat
Biologics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing
first-in-class therapies to modulate the immune system. Heat’s gp96
platform is designed to activate immune responses against cancer or
infectious diseases. The Company has multiple product candidates in
development leveraging the gp96 platform, including HS-110, which
has completed enrollment in a Phase 2 trial, various infectious
disease/biological threat programs in preclinical development and a
pipeline of proprietary immunomodulatory antibodies and cell-based
therapies, including PTX-35 and HS-130 in Phase 1 clinical
trials.
For more information, please
visit: www.heatbio.com, and also follow us
on Twitter.
Forward Looking StatementThis
press release includes forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 on
our current expectations and projections about future events. In
some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by
terminology such as "may," "should," "potential," "continue,"
"expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes,"
"estimates," and similar expressions. These statements are based
upon current beliefs, expectation, and assumptions and include
statements regarding Skunkworx’s approach aiming to enable rapid
drug development and validation of new precision therapeutics,
utilizing advanced computational methods and bioinformatics to
further enhance their target precision, Skunkworx, as
a potentially revolutionary drug discovery company, the Skunkworx
platform accelerating the path from discovery to preclinical,
Skunkworx enabling Heat to efficiently move new biologic programs
from discovery into the clinic and advancing a wide repertoire of
drugs across the spectrum of oncology, inflammation, infectious
diseases, and other indications, including biosecurity
applications, an area of growing importance.. These statements are
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are
difficult to predict, including the ability of Skunkworx to enable
rapid drug development and accelerate the path from discovery to
preclinical and to enable Heat to efficiently move new biologic
programs from discovery into the clinic and advancing a wide
repertoire of drugs across the spectrum of oncology, inflammation,
infectious diseases, and other indications, including biosecurity
applications, an area of growing importance, the ability of Heat's
therapies to perform as designed, to demonstrate safety and
efficacy, as well as results that are consistent with prior
results, the ability to enroll patients and complete the clinical
trials on time and achieve desired results and benefits, especially
in light of COVID-19, Heat's ability to obtain regulatory approvals
for commercialization of product candidates or to comply with
ongoing regulatory requirements, regulatory limitations relating to
Heat's ability to promote or commercialize its product candidates
for specific indications, acceptance of its product candidates in
the marketplace and the successful development, marketing or sale
of products, Heat's ability to maintain its license agreements, the
continued maintenance and growth of its patent estate, its ability
to establish and maintain collaborations, its ability to obtain or
maintain the capital or grants necessary to fund its research and
development activities and its cash and short-term investments
providing significant runway to fund Heat’s current clinical
programs and further expand Heat’s therapeutic portfolio , its
ability to continue to maintain its listing on the Nasdaq Capital
Market and its ability to retain its key scientists or management
personnel, and the other factors described in Heat's annual report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the
SEC, and other subsequent filings with the SEC. The information in
this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and
Heat undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements contained in this release based on new information,
future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Media and Investor Relations ContactDavid
Waldman+1 919 289 4017investorrelations@heatbio.com
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