- AT-108 induces powerful, personalized anti-cancer responses by forcing tumor cells to present their antigens to the immune system
- Data to be presented at ASGCT 2026 show when used as a monotherapy, AT-108 doubled median survival
- When used in combination with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB), AT-108 demonstrated strong anti-tumor activity, including significantly extending survival and achieving complete tumor regressions
- Findings show AT-108 induces systemic, dose-dependent efficacy with activity across distinct tumor microenvironments, and highlight key biomarker parameters to explore in a future clinical trial
LUND, Sweden, April 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Asgard Therapeutics, a privately held biotech company pioneering in vivo direct cell reprogramming for cancer immunotherapy, today announces it will present advanced preclinical data on its lead asset AT-108, a first-in-class, off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy, in an oral presentation at the ASGCT Annual Meeting, held from 11-15 May, 2026, in Boston, Massachusetts, US.
Fábio Rosa, Co-founder and VP and Head of Research at Asgard Therapeutics, who will give the oral presentation, said: “These data demonstrate the ability of AT-108 to reprogram tumor cells in situ into antigen-presenting cells with high efficiency, systematically driving activation of tumor-specific immune responses within the tumor microenvironment. This work provides clear preclinical evidence supporting our in vivo cell reprogramming platform and represents another milestone for Asgard as we advance AT-108 toward the clinic.”
Shane Olwill, Chief Development Officer at Asgard Therapeutics, said: “We are delighted to have been selected for an oral presentation at ASGCT, which will highlight the progress we have made advancing AT-108 – our first-in-class, off-the-shelf gene-based immunotherapy designed to trigger powerful, personalized anti-cancer responses. Our pioneering approach to tackling cancer is potentially transformative and we are excited by AT-108’s broad potential across multiple cancer types.”
Asgard had previously demonstrated that intratumoral delivery of AT-018 reprograms tumor cells into cDC1-like antigen-presenting cells and works synergistically with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) to elicit powerful anti-tumor activity.
This new study, being presented at ASGCT 2026, advances AT-108 across four key dimensions. It demonstrates AT-108’s ability to induce systemic anti-tumor immunity in mouse models leading to abscopal effect and regression on non-treated tumors in the same animals; it establishes AT-108 as the optimized clinical candidate following screening of >25 cassette variants; it defines dosing and treatment parameters required for durable responses; and it identifies pharmacodynamic biomarkers associated with reprogramming and immune activation.
Further highlights of the study include that:
- In combination with ICB, Asgard’s approach induced abscopal effects and long-term tumor-free survival in the B16 mouse syngeneic model. These results were associated with increased T cells and NK cells, and reduced regulatory T cells, in both injected and non-injected tumors.
- When used as a monotherapy, AT-108 doubled median survival in B16 and YUMM1.7 mouse models, and induced regression in ID8 ascites mouse model.
- When used in combination with ICB, AT-108 achieved 50% complete response (CR) in B16, and extended survival in the PANC02 immunosuppressed mouse model.
- Cell transduction peaked 1-2 days post injection and persisted for up to 9-15 days, supporting re-dosing every two days to sustain transduction. A three-dose lead cycle was required to achieve CRs, with maintenance dosing improving durability.
- Regarding biomarkers, tumor and peripheral blood analyses identified pharmacodynamic signatures associated with AT-108 activity, including increased cytotoxic T cells, expansion of follicular helper T cells and enrichment of dendritic cells.
The abstract is available to view via the ASGCT interactive program here.
The positive study results come as Asgard progresses AT-108 toward clinical development with a focus on solid tumors, by advancing IND-enabling studies and CMC development.
Details of the oral presentation are as follows:
Presentation title: Optimized in situ tumor-to-dendritic cell reprogramming by AT-108 adenoviral vector drives local and systemic antitumor immunity
Presenter: Fabio Rosa, Asgard Therapeutics
Presentation session: Cancer vaccines and oncolytic viruses I
Session date and time: 13 May 2026, 03:30 PM – 05:00 PM EDT
Location: MCEC Room 162AB (Level 1)
Presentation Time: 04:30 PM – 04:45 PM EDT
For further information, please contact:
Asgard Therapeutics
Cristiana Pires, Co-founder and CEO
Email: cristiana.pires@asgardthx.com
Optimum Strategic Communications
Mary Clark, Stephen Adams, Elena Bates
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8142 3740
Email: asgard@optimumcomms.com
Notes to Editors
About Asgard Therapeutics
Asgard Therapeutics is a privately held biotech company pioneering in vivo direct cell reprogramming for cancer immunotherapy. The company builds on ground-breaking and proprietary reprogramming technologies to develop gene therapy products designed to set in motion efficient and personalized immune responses. Asgard Therapeutics aims to establish a pipeline of off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapies that trigger personalized anti-cancer immune responses for the benefit of cancer patients in need. Asgard is backed by Novo Holdings, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Industrifonden, RV Invest and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. For more information, please visit: www.asgardthx.com
About AT-108
AT-108 is a first-in-class, off-the-shelf gene therapy that directly reprograms tumor cells into a rare subset of dendritic cells critical for mounting efficient cytotoxic T cell responses, cDC1 cells (conventional dendritic cells type 1). Reprogramming forces the tumor cells to present their tumor antigens, ultimately leading to a personalized anti-tumor immune response. It is based on a replication-deficient adenoviral vector that delivers three proprietary reprogramming factors into tumor cells, rewiring their gene expression signatures and thus “programming” them to become antigen-presenting cDC1-like cells.
About ASGCT Annual Meeting
Since its inception in 1998, the ASGCT Annual Meeting has grown to become the premier gathering for cell and gene therapy professionals worldwide. As the largest and most comprehensive cell and gene therapy event, the Annual Meeting offers unique opportunities to explore the latest scientific research, stay abreast of new technologies, and forge career-advancing connections.
