Neo-T: Autologous Mutant Neoantigen-Specific, TCR-Engineered T Cells For Adoptive Cellular Therapy

SUMMARY

• Selecting appropriate antigens on cancers is critical for development of T cell-based cellular therapies. Because of the enormous number/diversity of cancers it is impossible to clearly identify tumor antigens that can function as targets across different tumor entities and large groups of patients. 
• Inventors at the University of Chicago have developed a proprietary platform called “Neo-T” allowing the use of mutant neoantigens from an individual’s own cancer cells as a target structure for adoptively transferred T cells. The technology is based on the selection of a suitable pair of T cell receptors (TCRs) that can recognize neoantigens presented by patient MHC molecules.
• To achieve tumor eradication, one of the two TCRs must recognize a neoantigen in the context of an MHC class I molecule, and the other in the context of an MHC class II molecule. To increase the number/availability of neoantigen-specific T cells in a patient before TCR isolation, a vaccination strategy was developed using non-malignant surrogate cancer cells (SCCs) from the patient. Proof-of-principle studies demonstrated complete eradication of large and long-established solid tumors in mice.

FIGURE

ADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES

• Universal, personalized T-cell cancer treatment

• Selection of optimal TCRs in the context of both MHC I & II

• Enhanced safety and minimized unpredictable cross-reactivity are eliminated which may be encountered when using TCRs from other sources

APPLICATIONS

• Adoptive T cell therapies for cancer

• Cancer vaccine

January 31, 2022

Proof of concept

Patent Pending

Licensing,Co-development

Michael Bishop

• Preclinical – in vivo