Mestag Therapeutics awarded significant grant from Innovate UK’s prestigious cancer therapeutics program to accelerate the path to the clinic for MST-0300

Cambridge, UK, August 28, 2024 – Mestag Therapeutics (“Mestag”), a biotech company harnessing new insights into fibroblast-immune interactions, today announced that it has been awarded a “Transforming Cancer Therapeutics” grant from Innovate UK’s Cancer Therapeutics program of £1.5 million ($1.9 million) to accelerate the development of its MST-0300 antibody.

MST-0300 is a first-in-class bispecific antibody designed to induce TLS in solid tumors in a highly specific and localized fashion. The presence of TLS in tumors has recently emerged as being strongly correlated with improved outcomes for cancer patients across multiple tumor types. TLS are believed to enable improved immune cell access to the tumor and drive local immune cell education, leading to a powerful orchestrated anti-tumor response. Mestag data in hard-to-treat cancer models, recently presented at the 2024 American Association of Cancer Research conference, demonstrate potent anti-tumor effects.

Susan Hill, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Mestag Therapeutics, said, “We are honored to have been selected as a recipient for this highly competitive translational award. The presence of TLS in tumors is emerging as a key driver of improved treatment outcomes in cancer patients, and our MST-0300 program, designed to induce the formation of TLS in tumors, holds important therapeutic promise. Leveraging the dynamic UK biotech ecosystem, Innovate UK funding will enable us to advance MST-0300 rapidly to solid tumor patients who urgently need new treatment options.”