Heat Biologics

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Heat Biologics Inc.

Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq: HTBX[1]
Industry	Biotechnology
Founded	2008; 17 years ago (2008)
Headquarters	Morrisville, North Carolina, U.S.[2]
Area served	Morrisville, North Carolina,[2] New Brunswick, New Jersey,[2] and San Antonio, Texas, U.S.[2]
Key people	Jeffrey Wolf (Founder and CEO)
Products	HS-110, HS-130, PTX-35 and COVID-19 program
Website	heatbio.com

Heat Biologics Inc. is a U.S. biotechnology company focused on the field of immunotherapy. Heat Biologics was founded by Jeff Wolf and Eckhard Podack, in conjunction with the University of Miami and Seed-One Ventures.^[3] The company is based in Morrisville, North Carolina.^[2]

History

In 2008, Heat Biologics was founded by Jeff Wolf and Eckhard Podack, in conjunction with the University of Miami and Seed-One Ventures.^[3] The company relocated to North Carolina in 2011.^[2] NCBiotech provided $225,000 of initial funding the same year.^[2]

On July 24, 2013, Heat Biologics stock went public on NASDAQ under ticker symbol HTBX.^[1]

In 2017, Heat Biologics acquired an 80% controlling interest in Pelican Therapeutics.^[4]

Morrisville, North Carolina became the company's headquarters in 2019.^[2]

In 2020, the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami collaborated with Heat Biologics to develop a COVID-19 vaccine using gp-96 to express antigens associated with COVID-19.^[5]

In 2021, Heat Biologics began Phase 2 clinical trials for a new non-small cell lung cancer treatment (HS-110). It also initiated a Phase 1 trial for HS-130, its off-the-shelf cell line engineered to stimulate T-cells to assist in immune response to disease.^[2]

Pipeline products

HS-110

HS-110, also called viagenpumatucel-L, is in Phase II in NSCLC, in combination with cyclophosphamide. Another Phase I study is combining HS 110 with nivolumab and other checkpoint inhibitors.^[6]

HS-130

HS-130 is in Phase I clinical trial for patients with solid tumors. HS-130 is an allogeneic (“off-the-shelf”) cell line engineered to express OX40 ligand fusion protein (OX40L-Fc). OX40 ligand is a key co-stimulator of T cells that augments antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses.^[7]

COVID-19 Vaccine

The company initiated a COVID-19 vaccine collaboration with the University of Miami in March 2020 using their gp96 platform which activates the human immune system to combat infectious diseases with the potential of generating long-term immune responses.^[8]

PTX-35

PTX-35 is in Phase I clinical trial for patients with solid tumors. PTX-35 is a potential first-in-class T cell co-stimulator targeting TNFRSF25 (Death Receptor 3). Favorable safety profile was demonstrated in mice and non-human primates. PTX-35's development plan focuses on cancer immunotherapy.^[9]

References

1. "Heat Biologics, Inc. Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering of 2,500,000 Shares of Common Stock". Heatbio.com. July 29, 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
2. Bryant Haskins (June 24, 2021). "Heat Biologics To Double Size of Morrisville R&D Center". North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
3. Howard Cohen (October 15, 2015). "Dr. Eckhard Podack, University of Miami cancer researcher, dies at 72". Miami Herald.
4. Allan Maurer (November 3, 2020). "'Synergy' Behind Heat Biologics/Pelican deal is Key to Immunology". North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
5. Richard Westlund (March 18, 2020). "Immunology researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine are collaborating with North Carolina-based Heat Biologics, Inc. to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus COVID-19". Miller School of Medicine.
6. Heat Biologics (2020-01-24). "A Phase 2, Multicenter, Randomized Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Viagenpumatucel-L (HS-110) in Combination With Low Dose (Metronomic) Cyclophosphamide Versus Chemotherapy Alone in Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Adenocarcinoma After Failure of Two or Three Previous Treatment Regimens for Advanced Disease". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. Heat Biologics (2020-09-14). "A Phase I, First-in-human, Dose-escalation Study to Evaluate the Safety and Immunologic Response After Administration of HS-130 in Combination With HS-110 (Viagenpumatucel-L) in Patients With Solid Tumors Refractory to Standard Care". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
8. "Heat Biologics and University of Miami - gp96-Ig-S". GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News. 2020-05-18. Retrieved 2021-01-12.
9. "Heat Biologics Announces First Patient Treated in First-in-Human Clinical Trial of PTX-35". BioSpace. Retrieved 2021-01-12.