Janux Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: JANX) (Janux), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a broad pipeline of novel immunotherapies by applying its proprietary technologies to its Tumor Activated T Cell Engager (TRACTr), Tumor Activated Immunomodulator (TRACIr), and Adaptive Immune Response Modulator (ARM) platforms, today announced the dosing of the first patient in its TRACTr collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada. Under the terms of the collaboration that was entered in December 2020, Janux is eligible to receive development and commercial milestone payments and royalties.

“This milestone underscores the strength of our approach to generating value through both internal innovation and strategic partnerships, and it reflects the growing promise of our TRACTr pipeline—precision engineered to selectively modulate T cells to fight cancer,” said David Campbell, Ph.D., President and CEO of Janux.

“We’re thrilled to mark this pivotal achievement with the first clinical program emerging from our collaboration with Merck. This event displays strong collaboration with our partner and the ability to advance novel therapeutics derived from our underlying platforms from discovery into clinical trials,” said Janeen Doyle, Chief Corporate and Business Development Officer of Janux.

Janux’s TRACTr, TRACIr and ARM Pipeline

Janux’s first clinical candidate, JANX007, is a TRACTr that targets prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and is being investigated in a Phase 1 clinical trial in adult patients with mCRPC. Janux’s second clinical candidate, JANX008, is a TRACTr that targets epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and is being studied in a Phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of multiple solid cancers including colorectal carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, small cell lung cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and triple-negative breast cancer. Janux is also advancing additional CD3-based TRACTr and CD28-based TRACIr programs for future clinical development, including a PSMA-TRACIr for use in combination with our PSMA-TRACTr JANX007, and a TROP2-TRACTr for the treatment of TROP2+ solid tumors. Janux is advancing its first ARM platform program candidate, a CD19-ARM for the potential treatment of autoimmune diseases toward clinical trials. Janux is also generating a number of additional TRACTr, TRACIr and ARM programs for potential future development.