08:55 AM EST, 02/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Medicenna Therapeutics ( MDNAF ) on Tuesday said new data from its ABILITY-1 study show a "significant" expansion of certain key immune cell subsets associated with durable anti-tumor response.

The Ability-1 study, which is evaluating Medicenna's lead candidate MDNA11 alone or with Merck's Keytruda in patients with advanced solid tumors, also showed that MDNA11 promotes the expansion of a unique subset of cancer fighting cells that are critical for maintaining long-lasting anti-tumor immunity. These cells have been positively linked to immunotherapy responses, a statement noted.

"To the best of our knowledge these are the first reported human clinical data to demonstrate the ability of any type of IL-2 to dramatically boost the population of stem-like T cells that subsequently result in durable tumor control," said Dr Fahar Merchant, President and CEO of Medicenna. "Stem-like T cells are like the 'superheroes' of the immune system. They can renew themselves, multiply, and keep fighting cancer over time. What's exciting about these pharmacodynamic data is that they provide us with a potential roadmap for how we might further reinvigorate the immune system with MDNA11 to leverage stem-like T cells, the immune system's secret power, to improve health outcomes for people living with cancer, further demonstrating MDNA11's best-in-class potential."

The data was presented in a late-breaking abstract at the inaugural American Association for Cancer Research Immuno-Oncology Conference (AACR-IO), in Los Angeles.