Enara Bio Presents First-in-Class DARKFOX-Targeting Bispecific T Cell Engager ENA101 in Oral Presentation at AACR 2026, Showcasing Breakthrough Potential in Solid Tumor Immunotherapy

• First‑in‑class DARKFOX‑targeting bispecific T cell engager: ENA101 is designed to selectively recognize the DARKFOX‑A3 peptide presented by HLA‑A*03:01, a highly prevalent HLA allele, enabling precise redirection of T cells to DARKFOX‑expressing tumor cells while sparing normal tissues.
• Potent and selective T cell–mediated anti‑tumor activity: ENA101 demonstrates robust T cell activation and tumor cell killing with low‑picomolar functional potency across multiple DARKFOX‑A3⁺ solid tumor models, with no activity observed in antigen‑negative controls.
• Compelling in vivo efficacy at low doses: In multiple xenograft models, once‑weekly dosing of ENA101 drove complete tumor regression across all dose levels tested, supporting strong translational potential.
• Drug-like properties supportive of clinical development: ENA101 exhibits high‑affinity binding to its target pHLA complex, favorable stability and manufacturability, and an extended plasma half‑life enabled by Enara’s proprietary EnTiCE® TCE platform.
• Broad clinical relevance of DARKFOX: Analyses demonstrate that DARKFOX is highly prevalent and homogeneously expressed across multiple high unmet need solid tumor indications, creating the opportunity for patient selection based on HLA‑A*03 positivity alone.
• Advancing into clinical development: ENA101 is advancing through IND-enabling studies with a clear development path to IND submission in 2H’2026.

Oxford, UK – April 20, 2026. Enara Bio, a pioneer in Dark Antigen® discovery and bispecific T cell engager (TCE) innovation, today announced the presentation of new preclinical data for ENA101, its first‑in‑class bispecific T cell engager (TCE), delivered today in an oral session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026.

ENA101 targets DARKFOX®, a novel, cancer‑specific Dark Antigen encoded by a previously undiscovered alternative open reading frame (alt‑ORF) within FOXM1.  DARKFOX was discovered and validated using Enara’s proprietary EDAPT® platform and represents a new class of highly tumor‑specific targets derived from the dark proteome.

“ENA101 exemplifies the power of uncovering antigens within the dark proteome to overcome long-standing challenges in solid tumor immunotherapy,” said Dr. Joe Dukes, Chief Scientific Officer of Enara Bio. “The data presented today at AACR demonstrate that DARKFOX is a compelling cancer specific target and that ENA101 exhibits the potency, specificity and druglike profile required to advance a best-in-class T cell engager toward the clinic.”

The oral presentation, titled “ENA101: A First‑in‑Class Bispecific T Cell Engager Targeting a DARKFOX Peptide Presented by Solid Tumors,” was delivered by Dr. Joe Dukes in the Advances in Therapeutic Antibodies session
(Abstract #4052). The presentation highlighted the discovery of DARKFOX, the engineering of ENA101, and the comprehensive preclinical dataset supporting its advancement into clinical development.

Enara Bio is currently advancing ENA101 through IND-enabling studies to support IND filing in 2H’2026.

The abstract is available in Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2026.

About ENA101
ENA101 is a first‑in‑class bispecific T cell engager developed using Enara Bio’s proprietary EnTiCE platform. It incorporates a high‑affinity TCR‑mimic binder targeting the DARKFOX‑A3 peptide, a clinically validated anti‑CD3 arm, and an Fc‑based architecture for half‑life extension, to enable potent, selective and durable anti‑tumor immune responses.

About Enara Bio
Enara Bio is shining a light on Dark Antigen® and T-cell biology to develop cancer immunotherapies designed to improve treatment outcomes for broad populations of cancer patients with solid tumors. Our pioneering EDAPT® platform enables us to discover cancer-specific antigens, including HLA-presented and cell surface antigens, from previously uncharted genomic ‘dark matter’. The result is a growing library of Dark Antigens that can address the need for novel, cancer-specific targets on solid tumors. Through our proprietary EnTiCE® platform, Enara is developing novel bispecific T cell engagers against Dark Antigen targets that are highly prevalent and homogenously expressed across solid tumors. Based in Oxford, UK, Enara Bio is backed by a strong syndicate of life science investors including RA Capital, Pfizer Ventures, M Ventures, Samsara BioCapital, SV Health Investors, and the Francis Crick Institute.

For more information, visit: www.enarabio.com.

Dark Antigen®, DARKFOX™, EDAPT® and EnTiCE® are trademarks of Enara Bio.

Contacts
Kevin Pojasek, President & CEO
info@enarabio.com

Stacey Davis, CBO & CFO
stacey.davis@enarabio.com

Frazer Hall, Mark Swallow
MEDiSTRAVA
enarabio@medistrava.com

###

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.