Elpis Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage cell therapy company, is set to present promising new preclinical data on its proprietary multi-mechanism armored CAR-T platform at the upcoming PEGS Protein & Antibody Engineering Summit on May 14, 2025, in Boston. The company's innovative approach shows potential to overcome the significant challenges that have limited CAR-T therapy effectiveness in solid tumors.
Founder and CEO Yan Chen, MD, PhD, will present findings demonstrating how the company's technology effectively combats tumor microenvironment (TME) resistance while achieving durable anti-tumor responses at substantially lower doses than conventional CAR-T therapies.
Novel Multi-Mechanism Armor Technology
At the core of Elpis's platform is a proprietary "multi-mechanism armor" created by fusing a precision-engineered IL-2 molecule to an anti-PD-L1 antibody. This innovative approach is designed to simultaneously overcome multiple resistance mechanisms within the tumor microenvironment.
"Our multi-mechanism armor is the result of years of innovation in precision cytokine engineering empowered by mRNA display technology," explained Dr. Chen. "By addressing both TME resistance with armored cytokine and tumor heterogeneity through bispecific targeting, our platform has the potential to deliver safer, more effective and persistent CAR-T therapies in solid tumors."
The technology activates bystander immune cells, selectively targets key immune cell types, and orchestrates the immune system for a durable anti-tumor response. Preclinical data shows that Elpis's human bispecific armored CAR-T cells demonstrate potent tumor regression, long persistence, and robust immune modulation across multiple solid tumor models—all at significantly lower doses than traditional approaches.
Advancing Two Lead Candidates
Elpis is currently advancing two lead product candidates through its pipeline. The company recently presented data on both programs at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2025 as late-breaking submissions.
EPC-002: Targeting B7H3 in Solid Tumors
EPC-002 is a novel human B7H3-targeted CAR-T cell therapy developed with Elpis's proprietary multi-mechanism armor. B7H3 is overexpressed across a wide range of solid tumors, including skin, pancreatic, lung, breast, colon, kidney, and ovarian cancers.
Preclinical data presented at AACR demonstrated EPC-002's ability to reduce regulatory T cell proliferation, modulate CAR-T and bystander immune cell activation, enhance TIL infiltration, overcome TME suppression, and mediate anti-tumor activity. In mouse models, EPC-002 achieved complete tumor regression and long-term persistence with a very low dose of 0.3M CAR-T cells in tumor rechallenging studies.
EPC-003: Bispecific Approach for Glioblastoma
EPC-003 represents a first-in-class human bispecific CAR-T cell therapy targeting IL13Ra2 and B7H3, two antigens co-expressed in a majority of glioblastoma (GBM) tumors. This candidate is engineered with Elpis's proprietary mRNADis™ and mSCAFold™ platforms, integrating dual antigen targeting with a secreted multi-functional armor.
The technology enhances CAR-T cell persistence, blocks immune suppression, and critically, penetrates the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In an orthotopic GBM mouse model, EPC-003 induced tumor regression as early as day 6 following intracranial injection of 2 × 10^6 CAR-T cells. Importantly, intravenously injected CAR-T cells successfully penetrated the BBB, achieving significant tumor regression by day 13 post-treatment.
Clinical Development Plans
Elpis is preparing to advance its lead candidates into clinical trials. According to Dr. Chen, the company plans to initiate a proof-of-concept, investigator-initiated trial of EPC-003 in resistant/relapsed glioblastoma patients in the near future.
"Having two presentations detailing our lead product candidates accepted as late-breaking submissions at AACR is tremendous validation of Elpis's technologies and the potential that each offers in the treatment of solid tumors and glioblastoma, which have thus far proven resistant to most CAR-T therapies," said Dr. Chen.
Addressing Critical Unmet Needs
Solid tumors have historically presented significant challenges for CAR-T cell therapies, which have shown remarkable success in hematological malignancies but limited efficacy in solid tumors. The primary obstacles include the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, tumor heterogeneity, and physical barriers that prevent CAR-T cell infiltration.
Elpis's multi-mechanism approach aims to address these challenges by combining bispecific targeting to overcome tumor heterogeneity with armored cytokine technology to combat the immunosuppressive microenvironment. The company's integrated platform includes multi-mechanism armor technology, bispecific targeting antibodies, a cytokine cocktail-based cell manufacturing process, and a rapid mRNA display discovery engine.
With headquarters in both Lexington, Massachusetts, and Singapore, Elpis Biopharmaceuticals is positioning itself as a leader in the next generation of cell therapies for solid tumors. The upcoming presentations at the PEGS Summit will provide further insight into the potential of this innovative approach to transform CAR-T therapy for patients with difficult-to-treat solid tumors.
