Dr. Jennifer Buell
Thank you, Stephanie. Good morning, everyone. This quarter marks a defining period for MiNK Therapeutics, Inc. We are now a fully independent operated company focused, agile, and singularly dedicated to the advancement of our INKT cell therapy platform. Over the course of this year, we have not only strengthened our science but also elevated our global visibility, presenting major new findings at ASCO GI, AACR IO, the inaugural meeting, and most recently last week at the Society for Immune Therapy of Cancer, the SITC Annual Meeting. MiNK was founded on a bold idea: that a single naturally derived immune cell type, one of the most highly conserved cells in immunology, the invariant natural killer T cell, a very potent subset of T cells, could be harnessed to both ignite and regulate immunity. In this quarter, that idea became a reality. We are going to go through this in some detail. At SITC this year in Washington, D.C., we presented updated clinical data from our ongoing trial of AGENT-797, our allo, off-the-shelf iNKP cell therapy. This product was administered alone or in combination with approved anti-PD-1 in patients with relapsed or refractory solid tumors. These were patients with heavily pretreated immune therapy-resistant and in most cases without remaining clinical options. What we observed was really nothing short of remarkable. Patients who received 797 in combination with PD-1 achieved a median overall survival of approximately 23 months. This is really unexpected given this Phase I clinical trial in a refractory setting, we would expect survival to really be under six months. We observed a complete remission in a patient with metastatic testicular cancer who had failed prior chemotherapy, stem cell rescue, and checkpoint inhibition. We also observed a durable partial response in the second-line gastric cancer patient who has failed prior therapies. We also saw disease stabilization with prolonged survival across multiple other difficult-to-treat cancers. These cancers include thymoma, cholangiocarcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, and adenoid cystic carcinoma, with survival extending beyond two, even three years in some cases. These observations demonstrate not only the durable activity of 797 but also its potential to restore immune function in patients who had exhausted all available therapies. And crucially, this was achieved without the hallmark toxicities that have limited other cell therapies. We observed no cytokine release syndrome, no neurotoxicity, no graft-versus-host disease. The most common treatment-related event was mild fatigue. In just a few moments, you are going to hear from Dr. Terese Hammond. She will delve deeper into our findings, the immune mechanisms underlying the results, the translational data that explains Agent-797's unique biology, and how these insights are shaping our next generation of trials. What we are seeing in our data is beyond a response. It's really a substantial improvement in immunity, immune restoration. These NKT cells are doing what the immune system was really designed to do: detect danger, coordinate a response, and resolve inflammation with precision. In the case of cancer, what we observed is a controlled inflammatory response that was correlated with prolonged survival and in some cases with deep, durable, and complete remissions in some cancer types. Mechanistically, 797 operates through dual pathways, both a T cell receptor-dependent and a T cell receptor-independent pathway. These cells recognize glycolipid antigens through CD1D. They are naturally engineered in that way, enabling them to target both malignant and cells in ways conventional T and NK cells cannot. At the same time, these cells can reprogram the immune microenvironment. We have published these data and presented them publicly from our clinical trials. What we have observed is that INKT cells can activate dendritic cells, repolarize macrophages towards an M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype in cancer, and reinvigorate exhausted T cells. The result is a potent but controlled immune reaction, a rise in interferon gamma, IL-2, TNF alpha within 48 hours of infusion that turns these cold, otherwise cold tumors hot without systemic toxicity. Our data over the course of this year really reinforced 797's position as a platform therapy, and that's how we intend to advance it. It also underscores how MiNK Therapeutics, Inc. has become the most clinically advanced company in the world developing allogeneic iNKT cells. Our science alone isn't the only component that makes MiNK unique. It's really how we are building with public-private partnerships and with very disciplined capital use and a clear sustainable strategy. I'll go into that in a little bit more detail. This quarter, we were honored to witness our leadership and Board of Director member Dr. Robert Kadlec participate in his confirmation hearing by the U.S. Senate. Dr. Kadlec is a national leader in biodefense and preparedness whose partnership has helped us forge deep collaborations with federal and academic institutions that have really propelled MiNK forward. As Dr. Kadlec continues his honorable life of service, and upon his recommendation, and to our tremendous enthusiasm, we also just recently welcomed Dr. John Holcomb to our Board of Directors. Dr. Holcomb is a U.S. Army colonel, trauma pioneer, and author of over 700 scientific papers whose work has saved countless lives. These two leaders embody what MiNK stands for: science with purpose, innovation, and service of human survival. Building on that foundation, we have established a strategic partnership with experts from the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center to advance our INKT program in immune reconstitution following stem cell transplantation. Each year, tens of thousands of patients face the risk of graft-versus-host disease, infection, and relapse following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. And in fact, this impacts more than half of the patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. Our invariant natural killer T cells, by enhancing immune balance and also naturally preventing graft-versus-host disease, we believe, help prevent these complications and improve recovery and outcomes for these patients. We have two major public-private grants that are now supporting our work in delivering these therapies in the prevention and treatment of graft-versus-host disease. First, the Department of Defense and NIH STTR awards enabling MiNK and the University of Wisconsin teams to develop and test 797 in preclinical transplant models. And a second, a philanthropic clinical grant to our team at the University of Wisconsin that directly funds patient enrollment, immune monitoring, and biostatistical operations for the trial. These awards allow us to execute a first-in-human Phase I study with minimal capital impact, demonstrating how MiNK's partnership model can amplify scientific impact while preserving shareholder value. As we advance these programs, we are also preparing for a global Phase two, possibly Phase two/three clinical trial in acute pulmonary dysfunction with multidrug-resistant infections. This is a setting where immune failure drives mortality. The study will launch within weeks in collaboration with a network of critical care centers that mirror U.S. patient demographics. Our objective is to confirm that INKT can restore immune homeostasis, reduce ventilator days, and improve survival in critically ill patients. These studies are building on the phase one findings that Dr. Terese Hammond published in Nature Communications a short time ago. We believe that these cells and in this critically ill population can potentially transform how we treat immune collapse in both civilian and military populations. As we prepare for a more formal and comprehensive public announcement of the imminent launch of our grant-funded clinical trial in graft-versus-host diseases and the advancement of our late-stage program in severe pulmonary inflammatory disease, I want to underscore the clinical leadership now guiding these efforts. Today marks the first participation of Dr. Terese Hammond as a member of MiNK Therapeutics, Inc. Therese is a nationally recognized leader in pulmonary and critical care medicine with extensive experience advancing registration stage programs in severe pulmonary and inflammatory diseases. She has served as principal investigator on pivotal trials and including those at MiNK is the lead author of our landmark Nature Communications publication demonstrating the clinical impact of AGENT-797 in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Importantly, Therese will be leading the charge as we advance our INKP platform into a broader range of inflammatory diseases, areas where patients face a profound lack of effective therapeutic tools. This includes interstitial lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and other immune-driven conditions where our translational data and clinical observations point to compelling opportunities for impact. Her leadership, grounded in real-world ICU and pulmonary critical care medicine, will ensure that these programs are shaped by scientific insight and patient need. With that, I'm pleased to turn it over to Dr. Hammond who will take you deeper into the biology, mechanistic underpinnings, and the clinical findings that make these opportunities so meaningful for patients.