MiNK Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:INKT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing allogeneic invariant natural killer T (allo-iNKT) cell therapies to restore immune balance and treat immune-mediated diseases and cancer, today announced new clinical and translational data presented at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference 2026 and the simultaneous publication in Clinical Immunology Communications1 describing the use of sequential immunotherapy with MiNK's off-the-shelf iNKT cell therapy, agenT-797 and N-803, an IL-15 superagonist, in a critically ill patient with unresolving disseminated Coccidioides immitis infection, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, and concurrent hospital-acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia.

The poster, titled 'Novel Invariant Natural Killer T Cell (agenT-797) and Interleukin-15 Superagonist (N-803) Combination Immunotherapy for Unresolving Coccidioides immitis Infection with Concurrent ARDS,' was presented by Terese C. Hammond, M.D., Head of Inflammatory and Pulmonary Diseases at MiNK Therapeutics, and describes a sequential immunotherapy regimen pairing agenT-797, MiNK's investigational off-the-shelf iNKT cell therapy, with Anktiva® (N-803), an FDA-approved IL-15 superagonist developed by ImmunityBio, reflecting a combination strategy built on two clinically validated immune mechanisms. The patient was critically ill, facing a convergence of severe threats: disseminated Coccidioides immitis (valley fever) fungal infection, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and concurrent hospital-acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial pneumonia, all after standard-of-care antifungal, antibacterial, and supportive therapies had failed to halt clinical decline.

Key Clinical and Translational Findings

Following sequential treatment with Anktiva (N-803) and agenT-797, investigators observed:

  • Suppression of both fungal and bacterial pathogens
  • Active immune cell recruitment into the lung
  • Reduced early inflammatory signaling
  • Activation of tissue repair and immune regulatory pathways