Dr. Fahar Merchant reports

MEDICENNA STRENGTHENS IP PORTFOLIO WITH U.S. PATENT GRANTED FOR THE USE OF INTERLEUKIN-2 SUPERKINE FUSION PROTEINS IN ONCOLOGY

Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. has been issued U.S. patent No. 11,680,090, titled "Interleukin-2 Fusion Proteins and Uses Thereof." The patent further strengthens Medicenna's intellectual property around its BiSKIT(TM) (Bifunctional SuperKine for ImmunoTherapy) platform.

"Exhaustion and malfunction of cancer fighting immune cells severely limits the efficacy of current cancer immunotherapies. Our novel BiSKIT(TM) combines IL-2 receptor beta selective Superkines with Bcl-xL to prevent immune cell exhaustion and selectively increase effector T and NK cell populations," said Fahar Merchant, Ph.D., President and CEO of Medicenna. "This patent is intended to expand the utility of our IL-2 derived BISKITs(TM) and strengthens our position in the field by offering a unique method to not only boost cancer fighting immune cells during treatment but also expedite the ex-vivo manufacture of healthy, robust and functional T and NK cells used in numerous cell based immunotherapies currently approved or in development for cancer treatment."

The recently granted patent strengthens Medicenna's position, expanding its Superkine toolbox to further advance its contributions to the field of cancer immunotherapy. The patent protects a new method for enhancing fitness, survival and proliferation of cancer killing effector T cells and NK cells. Bcl-xL is a critical protein that repairs and maintains the integrity of mitochondria, which serve as the cell's primary "power generator". By fusing IL-2 superkines to Bcl-xL, these first-in-class BiSKITs(TM) have the potential to further boost the anti-cancer activity of cancer fighting immune cells by improving their lifespan, health, quality and quantity and to avoid the "energy crisis" which is frequently encountered with current cancer immunotherapies.

The new patent complements U.S. Patent No. 10,781,242 (covering composition and methods for IL-2 Superkine Bcl-xL fusions) and diversifies the platform where 3 previously issued patents, related to delivery of Bcl-xL via IL4/IL13 receptors, were described for potential treatment of degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis (announced on June 9, 2022). The Company's Superkine patent estate is currently comprised of 56 granted and 61 pending patent applications.

About Medicenna

Medicenna is a clinical stage immunotherapy company focused on the development of novel, highly selective versions of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-13 Superkines and first in class Empowered Superkines. Medicenna's long-acting IL-2 Superkine, MDNA11, is a next-generation IL-2 with superior CD122 (IL-2 receptor beta) binding without CD25 (IL-2 receptor alpha) affinity thereby preferentially stimulating cancer killing effector T cells and NK cells. Medicenna's early-stage BiSKITs(TM) program, (Bifunctional SuperKine ImmunoTherapies) is designed to enhance the ability of Superkines to treat immunologically "cold" tumors. Medicenna's IL-4 Empowered Superkine, bizaxofusp (formerly MDNA55), has been studied in 5 clinical trials including a Phase 2b trial for recurrent GBM, the most common and uniformly fatal form of brain cancer. Bizaxofusp has obtained FastTrack and Orphan Drug status from the FDA and FDA/EMA, respectively.

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