Thomas Dubensky on How ADU-S100 Activates STING

Thomas W. Dubensky Jr, PhD, chief scientific officer, Aduro Biotech, discusses a study of ADU-S100 and how it activates the human STING receptor, which is found to have presence in multiple tumor types.

The live-attenuated, double-deleted Listeria mononcytogenes (LADD) technology developed by Aduro Biotech is used in pancreatic cancer as a platform to induce antigens against specific tumors, Dubensky explains. Through a research collaboration, it was found that the potency of the LADD platform is due to inducing interferon expression, which turned out to be STING dependent.

ADU-S100, a small molecule, was delivered in preclinical models of advanced tumors and was found to promote anti-tumor efficacy. However, by activating the STING pathway in the tumor microenviornment, the tumor-resident dendritic cells could present antigen, produce a T-cell response, and was found to be systemically active.