Uppsala, September 1, 2026 - Elicera Therapeutics AB (publ) ("Elicera"), a clinical stage cell and gene therapy company developing next-generation therapies based on oncolytic viruses and CAR T-cells armed with bystander immune activating properties using the company's commercially available platform iTANK, today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the Japan Patent Office regarding its patent application for the oncolytic virus candidate against solid tumors, ELC-201.
The patent protects Elicera's oncolytic viruses engineered to induce immunogenic cell death of cancer cells, T and NK cell activation and DC maturation, therefore having improved anticancer effect also against solid tumors. It gives Elicera exclusive rights in Japan to develop and sell treatments based on ELC-201 for cancer treatment.
"This first Notice of Allowance for ELC-201, issued by the Japan Patent Office, is an important step in building out global protection for the candidate, following our recent patent success with ELC-401 in US. It underscores the breadth and durability of our iTANK-based pipeline, signals the strength of Elicera's innovation, and gives us a stronger foundation from which to advance ELC-201", says Elicera's CEO, Johan Liwing.
For further information please contact:
Johan Liwing, CEO, Elicera Therapeutics AB
Phone: +46 (0) 706 70 36 75
johan.liwing@elicera.com
Certified Advisor
DNB Carnegie Investment Bank AB (publ)
About ELC-201
ELC-201 is a next-generation oncolytic virus with a combined three mode-of-actions in the treatment of cancer. The drug candidate has been genetically modified with the company's proprietary immune enhancing platform technology, iTANK, in addition to 4-1BBL, both of which lead to strong activation of the patient's endogenous killer T-cells, leading to a broad parallel attack on cancer cells. ELC-201 is applicable for treatment of most solid tumors.
About the iTANK platform
The iTANK technology platform has been developed for arming and enhancing CAR T-cells to meet two of the major challenges CAR T-cell therapies face in the treatment of solid tumors: a very diverse set of tumor antigen targets and a very hostile tumor microenvironment. The technology is used to incorporate a transgene into CAR T-cells encoding a neutrophil activating bacterial protein (NAP). NAP secreted from the CAR(NAP) T-cells has been shown to be able to enhance the function of CAR T-cells and importantly activating a parallel bystander immune response against the cancer via CD8+ killer T-cells. This is expected to lead to a broad attack against most antigen targets on cancer cells. The iTANK platform is used to enhance the company's own CAR T-cells but can also be universally applied to other CAR T-cell therapies under development. Proof-of-concept data was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering in April 2022. The publication, titled "CAR T cells expressing a bacterial virulence factor triggers potent bystander antitumor responses in solid cancers" (DOI number: 10.1038/s41551-022-00875-5) can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41551-022-00875-5. More information about iTANK platform is available here: https://www.elicera.com/technology
About Elicera Therapeutics AB
Elicera Therapeutics AB (publ) has developed the patented gene technology platform iTANK that enables the arming of new and existing CAR T-cell therapies targeting aggressive and relapsing cancer forms. Elicera Therapeutics thereby addresses a well-defined and vast market. The company's CAR T-cell therapies have shown a potent effect toward solid tumors which are recognized as particularly difficult to treat and constitute the majority of cancer cases. The company addresses a global multibillion market in cell therapy through its offering of non-exclusive licensing of the iTANK-platform to companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Elicera Therapeutics has four internal development projects in immune therapy that separately have the potential to generate substantial value through exclusive out-licensing agreements. The company's share is traded on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. For additional information, visit www.elicera.com.
