Core Insights - MAIA Biotechnology, Inc. has received a $2.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand its THIO-101 Phase 2 clinical trial for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [1][2][3] - The trial aims to enroll U.S. patients who are resistant to chemotherapy and immunotherapy, with the grant funding distributed over three years from 2025 to 2027 [2][3] - The median overall survival for patients in the third-line treatment of the trial was reported at 17.8 months, significantly higher than the 5 to 6 months observed with standard chemotherapy treatments [3][6] Company Overview - MAIA Biotechnology is focused on developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer, with its lead program being ateganosine, a first-in-class telomere-targeting agent for NSCLC [5][8] - The company aims to address the significant unmet clinical need in third-line NSCLC treatment, where no established standard of care currently exists [3][5] - The THIO-101 trial is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ateganosine when followed by PD-(L)1 inhibitors, targeting patients who have progressed after previous treatments [6][7] Clinical Trial Details - THIO-101 is a multicenter, open-label, dose-finding Phase 2 clinical trial that tests the hypothesis that ateganosine can enhance immune response when administered before cemiplimab [6][7] - The trial has two primary objectives: to evaluate the safety and tolerability of ateganosine and to assess its clinical efficacy using Overall Response Rate (ORR) as the primary endpoint [6][7] - The expansion phase of the trial will allow access to a larger patient pool across multiple continents, enhancing the study's impact and relevance [3][6]