Tollys presents scientific data supporting preclinical proof of concept for TL-532, its cancer immunotherapy drug candidate

Lyon, France, June 7, 2021 — Tollys, a biopharmaceutical company developing TL-532, the first synthetic specific agonist of Toll-like Receptor 3 (TLR3) cancer immunotherapy, today announces the presentation of a number of scientific results showing a preclinical proof of concept for TL-532 in the treatment of multiple cancers; at two online scientific conferences.

Doctors Marc Bonnin and Sylvain Thierry will present Tollys’ results at the European Association of Cancer Research’s EACR 2021 Congress, which will take place from June 9 -12:

• Dr Marc Bonnin, head of the discovery unit at Tollys, will present ‘Discovery process and in vitro biological characterization of rationally designed TL-532 Toll-like Receptor 3 (TLR3) agonist as anti-cancer molecule’ (EACR21v-0484)
• Dr Sylvain Thierry, head of translational research at Tollys, will present ‘First rationally designed Toll-like Receptor 3 (TLR3) agonist TL-532, induces apoptosis specific of tumor cells and long-lasting anti-tumor specific immunity’ (EACR21v-0469)

These presentations will cover the main preclinical results obtained with TL-532, in particular:

• How it differs from all TLR ligand receptors studied to date
• Direct and selective apoptosis induction of tumor cells in vitro and ex vivo on tumor samples from patients
• Prevention of recurrence through immunological memory; triggered and maintained in the long term by TL-532, as demonstrated in a rodent model
• Immunological switch in the tumor microenvironment in patients undergoing tumor resection

“We’re proud to be able to share this data, which proves the potential of this specific TLR3 agonist in immuno-oncology, in particular by releasing tumor-specific antigens. We believe these results are highly promising and we are looking forward to sharing them with the scientific community,” said Dr Bettina Werle, chief scientific officer at Tollys.

Dr Werle was also invited to present some initial results at the Sting & TLR Targeted Therapies summit. Her presentation took place on May 27, 2021: ‘TL-532, the First Rationally Designed TLR3 Agonist Creates Long-Lasting Tumor Specific Immunity In Vivo’.

About TL-532

TL-532 is a specific TLR3 agonist with a triple mechanism of action: it induces 1) the death by apoptosis of cancer cells, leading to the release of tumor specific antigens, 2) activation of the immune system to mount a specific T-cell response against the tumor antigens and 3) a tumor microenvironment switch by producing cytokines and chemokines which are unfavorable to tumor development. The result is the immunogenic death of cancer cells and an auto-vaccination preventing the recurrence of cancer. This TLR3 receptor is very different from other TLRs tested to date (TLR 2, 4, 7, 8, 9) due to this unique mechanism of action which simultaneously combines immune stimulation with its specific apoptotic effect on cancer cells.

While the TLR3 receptor is a validated cancer target, TLR3 agonists have yet to reach the market. TL-532 is the first synthetic specific TLR3 agonist with a defined – and patented – double-stranded RNA sequence. As such, TL-532 has the potential to be best-in-class and first-to-market.
About Tollys 

Tollys is a biopharmaceutical company focused on innate immunity, particularly on the biology and modulation of the TLR3 receptor. Tollys is pioneering TL-532, a new immunotherapy to treat various types of cancer.

Tollys discovered and patented a family of TLR3 agonists and selected TL-532 as its lead-candidate. TL-532 is a structurally defined double-stranded RNA, produced synthetically and highly specific to the TLR3 receptor. The specificity for the TLR3 receptor and its defined 70 base pair sequence differentiates TL-532 from all other TLR3 agonists tested to date in clinical trials.

Founded in 2015 by senior scientists from the leading Cancer Research Center in Lyon and the Centre Léon Bérard, Tollys is located in Lyon, France. The company has raised a total of €6M ($7.1M) from private investors and received a grant of €1.5M ($1.8M) from Bpifrance.

www.tollys.fr