DURHAM, N.C., March 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heat Biologics, Inc. (Nasdaq:HTBX), a leader in the development of immunotherapies designed to activate a patient’s immune system against cancer, announced that the company has entered into a definitive agreement with the holders of 75.5% of the outstanding capital stock of Pelican Therapeutics, Inc. to acquire an 80% controlling interest in Pelican. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Pelican is a privately held immuno-oncology company focused on developing agonists to TNFRSF25, a highly differentiated and potentially “best-in-class” T cell costimulatory receptor.

Key highlights include:

• Pelican was the recipient of a highly competitive $15.2 million New Company Product Development Award from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), which should enable the company to advance multiple products through preclinical development and at least one program through a 70-patient Phase 1 clinical trial. The CPRIT grant is subject to customary CPRIT funding conditions and was awarded in 2016 following a rigorous scientific and clinical evaluation process.
• Pelican’s T cell costimulator, PTX-25, in combination with other immunotherapies, including Heat’s ImPACT and ComPACT technologies, has the potential to enhance durability of responses due to its preferential specificity to ‘memory’ CD8+ T cells.
• Preclinical studies demonstrate PTX-25 has superior “best-in-class” costimulatory activity for CD8+ cytotoxic T cells as compared to other costimulators.

“The acquisition of Pelican aligns with our strategic focus targeting exciting immuno-oncology combinations, strengthening Heat’s portfolio in the emerging T cell activation space,” said Jeff Wolf, Heat’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Pelican’s two product candidates are transformative assets for us as there are compelling data indicating that targeting TNFRSF25 may have significant advantages over competing costimulatory receptors currently under development. This is important because many of the leading global pharmaceutical companies are focused on T cell costimulators to enhance the effectiveness of their existing immuno-oncology therapies.”

“Pelican’s PTX-25 has the potential to dramatically improve the durability of antigen-specific immune responses due to its preferential specificity for stimulating the production of ‘memory’ CD8+ T cells,” added Jeff Hutchins, Ph.D., Heat’s Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Preclinical Development. “We look forward to advancing these new product candidates with synergistic combinations including Heat’s existing T cell-activating platform technologies, ImPACT and ComPACT, vastly expanding our reach within oncology and possibly beyond.”

The acquisition is contingent upon certain closing conditions, including agreements of the holders of 80% of the outstanding capital stock of Pelican, on a fully diluted basis, to participate in the acquisition and enter into a stockholders agreement with respect to their remaining Pelican shares. As consideration for the sale of 80% of the Pelican Stock, Heat will pay the Pelican stockholders that participate in the acquisition an upfront cash payment not to exceed $500,000 and will issue an aggregate of 1,323,021 shares of Heat common stock, representing 4.99% of the outstanding shares of Heat common stock. In addition, Heat will cause Pelican to pay certain clinical and commercialization milestone payments, royalty and sublicensing income payments, and Heat will loan Pelican amounts sufficient to pay Pelican’s transaction expenses. Cassel Salpeter & Co. served as financial advisor to the Heat special committee and Geller Biopharm served as financial advisor to the Pelican special committee and Pelican stockholders.

The acquisition is expected to close no later than April 30, 2017, subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other customary terms and conditions.

About Pelican Therapeutics, Inc.
Pelican Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held immuno-oncology company focused on developing agonists to TNFRSF25, a differentiated and potentially "best-in-class" T cell costimulatory receptor. TNFRSF25 has shown great promise due to its preferential specificity for stimulating the production of "memory" CD8+ T cells, the strongest predictive biomarker of clinical benefit from cancer immunotherapy. T cell costimulatory therapy, when combined with checkpoint inhibitors and other treatments, could significantly improve clinical responses for a broader range of patients. Pelican has conducted extensive preclinical studies and completed humanization of its lead monoclonal antibody, PTX-25.

About the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
Beginning operations in 2009, CPRIT has to-date awarded $1.78 billion in grants to Texas researchers, institutions and organizations. CPRIT provides funding through its academic research, prevention, and product development research programs. Programs made possible with CPRIT funding have reached all 254 counties of the state, brought more than 123 distinguished researchers to Texas, advanced scientific and clinical knowledge, and provided more than three million life-saving education, training, prevention and early detection services to Texans. Learn more at www.cprit.texas.gov.

About Heat Biologics, Inc.
Heat Biologics, Inc. (Nasdaq:HTBX) is an immuno-oncology company developing novel therapies that are designed to activate a patient’s immune system against cancer utilizing an engineered form of gp96, a protein that activates the immune system when cells die. Heat’s highly specific T cell-stimulating therapeutic vaccine platform technologies, ImPACT and ComPACT, in combination with other therapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors, are designed to address three distinct but synergistic mechanisms of action: robust activation of CD8+ “killer” T cells (one of the human immune system’s most potent weapons against cancer); reversal of tumor-induced immune suppression; and T cell co-stimulation to further enhance patients’ immune response. Currently, Heat is conducting a Phase 1b trial with HS-110 (viagenpumatucel-L) in combination with an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor to treat patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a Phase 2 trial with HS-410 (vesigenurtacel-L) in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC).

Heat’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Zolovax, Inc., is developing therapeutic and preventative vaccines to treat infectious diseases based on Heat’s gp96 vaccine technology, with a current focus on the development of a Zika vaccine in conjunction with the University of Miami.

For more information, please visit www.heatbio.com.