Announcement • Sep 10

MAIA Biotechnology, Inc. Showcases Next-Generation Telomere-Targeting Cancer Therapies at IRT 2026

MAIA Biotechnology, Inc. presented a poster featuring its second-generation telomere-targeting anticancer drug candidates at the XXVI International Round Table on Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids (IRT 2026) held in Barcelona, Spain. MAIA's lead drug candidate, ateganosine, is a first-in-class telomere-targeting therapy designed to selectively damage cancer-cell telomeres while activating the body's antitumor immune response. The poster and oral presentations highlighted both ateganosine's novel mechanism of action and MAIA's next-generation divalent telomere-targeting drug candidates, which combine ateganosine with a complementary DNA-targeting agent in a single prodrug molecule. These next-generation candidates are designed to attack tumors through multiple mechanisms, with the goal of delivering greater efficacy than ateganosine alone. MAIA’s next-generation program is designed to expand the therapeutic potential and versatility of its science and support its long-term strategy of developing differentiated therapies that address significant unmet medical needs. MAIA is advancing its telomere-targeting platform with next-generation prodrug molecules designed to enhance antitumor activity. By evaluating multiple molecular designs in complementary cell-based studies and preclinical in vivo tumor models, MAIA has identified structural features associated with the strongest antitumor activity. These findings are helping MAIA optimize its next-generation therapies while further validating the potential of its platform to induce durable antitumor immune responses. MAIA’s next-generation telomere-targeting programs were shared with leading researchers in the field and discussed how these advances could translate into new therapeutic approaches for cancer. The data presented at the conference demonstrate the breadth of MAIA's platform beyond ateganosine and reinforce its strategy of developing increasingly potent and optimized molecules that leverage telomere biology to selectively target cancer cells. MAIA’s presentations included an oral presentation titled “Novel Divalent Cancer RedOx Activatable Nucleoside Prodrugs as Potent Anticancer Modalities” and a poster titled “New Telomere-Targeting Dual-Pharmacophore Dinucleotide Prodrugs for Anticancer Therapy.” MAIA was a sponsor of IRT 2026. MAIA’s IRT 2026 poster is available. Ateganosine (THIO, 6-thio-dG or 6-thio-2’-deoxyguanosine) is a first-in-class investigational telomere-targeting agent currently in clinical development to evaluate its activity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Telomeres, along with the enzyme telomerase, play a fundamental role in the survival of cancer cells and their resistance to current therapies. The modified nucleotide 6-thio-2’-deoxyguanosine induces telomerase-dependent telomeric DNA modification, DNA damage responses, and selective cancer cell death. Ateganosine-damaged telomeric fragments accumulate in cytosolic micronuclei and activates both innate (cGAS/STING) and adaptive (T-cell) immune responses. The sequential treatment of ateganosine followed by PD-(L)1 inhibitors resulted in profound and persistent tumor regression in advanced, in vivo cancer models by induction of cancer type–specific immune memory. Ateganosine is presently developed as a second or later line of treatment for NSCLC for patients that have progressed beyond the standard-of-care regimen of existing checkpoint inhibitors.

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