Molecular Templates ETB preclinical data against cancer to be presented at AACR meeting

Molecular Templates, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of a new class of small biologic therapies called Engineered Toxin Bodies (ETB), announced today that it will present preclinical data in two poster presentations at the 102^nd American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Orlando, FL during April 2-6, 2011. In a presentation, entitled "Engineered toxin bodies with specific activity against EGFR and HER2 expressing cells," the company will report the development of ETBs that specifically target for destruction cancer cells expressing the EGFR or HER2 receptors. ETBs work through intracellular enzymatic ribosomal shutdown that does not rely on modulation of a signaling pathway to induce an effect. Therefore they may have utility against EGFR expressing cancers that possess KRAS mutations or breast cancers where growth is not mediated by HER2 signaling. In a separate poster presentation, the company will present preclinical data highlighting the etiologically driven screening capabilities of the ETB platform to identify ETBs that have specific activity against cancer cells that have acquired mesenchymal-like phenotypes.

"We look forward to sharing these preclinical data that demonstrate the unique capabilities of our maturing ETB platform technology," said Eric Poma, president and chief executive officer of Molecular Templates. "ETBs represent a new class of targeted biologic therapies with predictable pharmacokinetics evolved from a proprietary toxin scaffold. As we advance our ETB candidates forward, we are excited about leveraging the broad utility of our technology for a variety of cancer types and settings."