Adoptive Cell Therapies
Immunotherapy has become a cornerstone of today’s cancer treatments. Recently, Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT) has been in the spotlight with the first approved therapy being a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. CARs are designed to reprogram immune killer cells by combining the specificity of an antibody with the cytotoxic and memory function of T cells.
T Cell Receptor (TCR) therapies represent the next generation opportunity to empower immune effector cells for ACT. TCRs recognize components of tumor-specific proteins from inside of cells in a different way than antibodies and, therefore, require precise characterization and, in many cases, engineering. ACTs utilizing TCRs widen the scope of tumor targets beyond CAR-based approaches, and in addition, TCR and CAR ACT approaches offer complementary ways to treat cancer.
Our Drug Discovery engine
Our powerful T-Rx™ TCR drug discovery platform and other proprietary antigen receptor discovery platforms identify, characterize and precisely engineer novel TCRs and CARs to create living drugs that treat a broad range of cancer patients. By optimizing a direct, library-based functional screening approach, we are identifying TCRs and CARs that most effectively seek out and eradicate cancer while sparing non-cancerous tissues.
PTT Neo-antigens
We are leveraging novel tumor-specific neo-antigens which are recognized by TCRs, including promising phosphopeptide tumor targets (PTTs) licensed from Agenus. Because they are shared among many cancers, PTTs are believed to hold a unique key to providing living drugs for a global patient population.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor
Learn about how immune effector cells are genetically engineered with CARs to produce a targeting receptor enabling them to act as a living drug against cancer cells.
T Cell Receptor (TCR) Technology
Learn more about how immune effector cells are genetically engineered with our TCR’s and activated as a living drug to generate an immune response against cancer