INmune Bio Goes Public on NASDAQ, Focused on Immunotherapies for Cancer and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that Univest Securities in the United States recently announced that its client, the biotechnology company INmune Bio, had officially listed on the NASDAQ stock market in New York.

INmune Bio, headquartered in California, USA, is dedicated to developing immunotherapies for patients with innate immune system dysfunction. The company’s current primary products are INKmune, INB03, and XPro1595, which are described in detail below.

The innate immune system is one of the two major immune systems in the human body, primarily composed of natural killer (NK) cells, macrophages, and eosinophils. NK cells have two main functions: killing virus-infected cells and cancer cells. In fact, the human body generates potentially carcinogenic cells every day; the role of NK cells is to monitor for the emergence of these cancer cells, engage with them, and eliminate them before they progress to a pathological state. NK cells can release granzymes, which perforate the cell membranes of cancerous cells, cause cytoplasmic leakage, and ultimately lead to loss of viability.

In patients with innate immune system necrosis, cancer cells can evade surveillance by natural killer (NK) cells. This is because resting NK cells must transition into an activated state to kill cancer cells. Generally, to prevent NK cells from damaging normal cells, they remain in a resting state; when cancerous cells emerge, multiple activating substances are required to prompt NK cells to shift into an activated state. Current experimental studies have demonstrated that these activation signals occur in two stages: Stage 1 transitions resting NK cells into a primed state, enabling them to recognize cancer cells; Stage 2 triggers the cytotoxic mechanisms of NK cells. Many cancer patients fail to provide the signals necessary to activate NK cells, thereby contributing to cancer development.

INKmune is a substance delivery system specifically designed to address such issues, capable of delivering agents that activate NK cells into the human body, thereby enabling direct contact between NK cells and cancer cells for their elimination.

INB03 is a novel TNF inhibitor administered via subcutaneous injection. It inhibits the proliferation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and reduces their activity. MDSCs secrete immunosuppressive cytokines that hinder the generation of natural killer (NK) cells in patients, thereby promoting cancer cell dissemination.

Furthermore, the company has developed a protein-based biologic, XPro1595, which can alleviate Alzheimer’s disease symptoms by treating neuroinflammation. Studies have shown that targeting neuroinflammation may slow or halt the cognitive and psychiatric symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

TNF is an immune signaling molecule that coordinates both beneficial and detrimental immune responses in patients. Studies have shown that TNF levels are typically elevated in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The biologic agent XPro1595 reduces TNF levels in the body by blocking the expression of TNF molecules, thereby restoring immune responses to normal levels and treating Alzheimer’s disease.

Since its registration with the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 1994, Univest Securities has provided a range of financial services to institutional and retail clients worldwide, including equity services, sales and trading, investment banking advisory, and wealth management. Univest Securities is committed to delivering value-added services to its broad client base and fostering long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships.

(Compiled by Liu Yujing)