Fate Therapeutics to Highlight Natural Killer Cell

SAN DIEGO, March 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: FATE ), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders, announced today that three abstracts describing the Company’s programs will be presented at the upcoming 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to be held April 1-5 in Washington, D.C.

The abstracts describe, respectively, preclinical data on FATE-NK100, a first-in-class adaptive memory natural killer (NK) cell product candidate; hnCD16-iNK, a first-of-kind, off-the-shelf, targeted NK cell product candidate derived from a master engineered induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line; and the creation of immunologically-engineered iPSC lines and use for deriving universal effector cells.

Presentations at AACR 2017:

FATE-NK100 Natural Killer Cell Product Candidate Title: FATE-NK100: A Novel NK Cell Cancer Therapy Description: Enhanced cytotoxicity in vivo in a SKOV-3 (human ovarian cancer cell line) xenogeneic adoptive transfer model; Seven-day, feeder-free GMP manufacture to enrich and expand adaptive memory NK cells, yielding a final product composition containing greater than 90% NK cells and approximately 1.5 x 10 ¹⁰ CD57+ NK cells. Abstract # / Poster Board #: 3752 / 8 Session: Innate Effectors in Immunity to Cancer Location: Convention Center, Halls A-C, Poster Section 30 Date and Time: Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 8:00am – Noon ET

High-Affinity, Non-Cleavable CD16 (hnCD16) iPSC-derived Natural Killer Cell Product Candidate Title: Renewable and Genetically Engineered NK Cells for Off-the-Shelf Adoptive Cellular Immunotherapy Description: Superior antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and cytokine production in response to CD16 stimulation; Product candidate derivation from a master engineered pluripotent cell line incorporating a high-affinity, non-cleavable CD16 Fc receptor. Abstract # / Poster Board #: 3755 / 11 Session Name: Innate Effectors in Immunity to Cancer Location: Convention Center, Halls A-C, Poster Section 30 Date and Time: Tuesday, April 4, 2017, 8:00am – Noon ET

Engineered iPSC Lines for Deriving Universal Effector Cell Therapies TITLE: Overcoming Host Histocompatibility Barrier to Create a Renewable Source of Off-the-Shelf Effector Lymphocytes for Adoptive Immunotherapy Description: Clonal, genetically engineered iPSC line generation with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecule deletions and immunosuppressive protein expression; Escape of immune cell rejection against unmatched peripheral blood NK and T cells. Abstract # / Poster Board #: 609 / 13 Session Name: T-cell Immunity to Cancer: New Progress Location: Convention Center, Halls A-C, Poster Section 26 Date and Time: Sunday, April 2, 2017, 1:00pm – 5:00pm ET

About Fate Therapeutics, Inc. Fate Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders. The Company’s hematopoietic cell therapy pipeline is comprised of NK- and T-cell immuno-oncology programs, including off-the-shelf product candidates derived from engineered induced pluripotent cells, and immuno-regulatory programs, including product candidates to prevent life-threatening complications in patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation and to promote immune tolerance in patients with autoimmune disease. Its adoptive cell therapy programs are based on the Company’s novel ex vivo cell programming approach, which it applies to modulate the therapeutic function and direct the fate of immune cells. Fate Therapeutics is headquartered in San Diego, CA. For more information, please visit www.fatetherapeutics.com .

Forward-Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the therapeutic potential of the Company’s cellular immunotherapy programs. These and any other forward-looking statements in this release are based on management's current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the success, cost, and timing of research and product development activities, the risk of cessation or delay of any development activities for a variety of reasons, including any inability to develop or manufacture product candidates, and the risk that product candidates may not be suitable for therapeutic applications and may not provide the anticipated therapeutic benefits. For a discussion of other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the Company’s most recently filed periodic report, and from time to time the Company’s other investor communications. Fate Therapeutics is providing the information in this release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact: Christina Tartaglia Stern Investor Relations, Inc. 212.362.1200 christina@sternir.com