HCW Biologics Inc. announced that under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, the National Cancer Institute and HCW Biologics Inc. will collaborate to perform a Phase 1b/2 clinical study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of HCW Biologics' proprietary agent, HCW9218, in patients with advanced/metastatic pancreatic cancer. The CRADA is entitled, “A Phase 1b/2 Study of HCW9218, a Bifunctional TGF- ß Antagonist/IL-15 Protein Complex, for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer.” The Principal Investigator at NCI is Christine Alewine, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Alewine is a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar at the National Institutes of Health in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Her research focuses on identifying new treatments for pancreatic cancer including pancreatic adenocarcinoma, adenosquamous carcinoma, and acinar cell carcinoma.

Dr. Alewine is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.