Medicenna Presents Compelling Results from the ABILITY-1 Clinical Trial at the 2025 AACR Annual Meeting

Core Insights - Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. presented updated clinical data for MDNA11, a long-acting IL-2 super-agonist, at the 2025 AACR Annual Meeting, highlighting its potential in treating advanced solid tumors, particularly in patients resistant to immune checkpoint inhibitors [1][2][10] Clinical Activity - Ten patients achieved an objective response (5 confirmed) with MDNA11 alone or in combination with KEYTRUDA, showing an objective response rate (ORR) of 36% (5 of 14) in all tumor types and 31% (4 of 13) in cancers planned for the Phase 2 combination expansion cohort [1][5] - In the monotherapy dose expansion, patients treated at ≥ 60 µg/kg had an ORR of 29.4% (5 of 17) across all tumor types and 40% (4 of 10) in the Phase 2 monotherapy expansion cohort [1][7] - The highest ORR of 50% was observed among MSI-H patients receiving MDNA11 monotherapy and endometrial cancer patients receiving the combination treatment [1][6] Safety Profile - MDNA11 demonstrated an acceptable safety profile, with over 90% of treatment-related adverse events being Grade 1-2 and transient, and no dose-limiting toxicities observed at doses up to 120 µg/kg [3][5] Immunodynamics - The study showed robust expansion of immune effector cells in both monotherapy and combination settings, with notable increases in critical T cell populations necessary for sustained anti-tumor responses [6][9] Future Directions - Enrollment in the Phase 2 combination dose expansion arm is ongoing, with the recommended dose for expansion established at 90 µg/kg every 2 weeks alongside KEYTRUDA [1][10] - Additional clinical data from the ABILITY-1 study is expected to be shared at future medical conferences throughout the year [2][8]