Calidi Biotherapeutics Presents Novel BiTE Approach at AACR Conference

Calidi Biotherapeutics presented data on its novel approach to the use of BiTEs in solid tumors by utilizing its systemically delivered RedTail platform at the AACR Immuno-Oncology, AACR-IO, conference being held in Los Angeles, California. RedTail is Calidi's systemically delivered virotherapy platform designed to selectively target tumors, remodel the tumor microenvironment, and enable high-level expression of therapeutic genetic payloads directly within the tumor. CLD-401, the lead candidate derived from the RedTail platform, is engineered to express high levels of IL-15 superagonist, a known T-cell activator, in the TME. In data presented at the meeting, Calidi demonstrated RedTail viruses that could express both a functional BiTE, capable of binding targeted solid tumor cells, and IL-15 SA at high concentrations, allowing for simultaneous alteration of the TME and T-cell activation and introduction into the TME of a solid-tumor targeting BiTE. BiTEs have shown exceptional efficacy in hematological malignancies but have failed to show clinical benefit in solid tumors where the TME inhibits T-cell activity. By remodeling the TME and driving T-cell activation while expressing a tumor-localized BiTE, RedTail may overcome the historical limitations of BiTEs in solid tumors.