Instil Bio prioritizes CoStAR-TIL program, reduces headcount by 60%

Instil Bio announced a reprioritization of its clinical programs to focus on development of its CoStAR-TIL product candidates. "From the beginning of Instil, we have been committed to advancing TIL therapy by enhancing the native activity of TILs with innovative strategies designed to improve product efficacy and safety," said Bronson Crouch, CEO of Instil Bio. "Although it was a difficult decision to discontinue the development of ITIL-168, this decision provides us the opportunity to accelerate the development of CoStAR and other novel technologies to enhance TIL therapies for patients. We are excited to resume dosing patients in the Phase 1 ITIL-306 study and anticipate providing initial data readouts next year." Instil has prioritized development of its proprietary, genetically-engineered CoStAR-TIL programs, which are designed to boost the efficacy of T cells by providing potent synthetic costimulatory signals within the tumor microenvironment. Instil’s lead CoStAR-TIL program, ITIL-306, is in a Phase 1 dose escalation trial in non-small cell lung cancer ovarian cancer, and renal cell carcinoma, with the first patient dosed earlier this year. The Company expects to report data from the dose escalation cohorts of the Phase 1 ITIL-306 study in 2023. Instil is undertaking a reduction in its U.S. workforce of approximately 60% to re-align its operating model from a registration-focused company to a development-stage company.