On November 9, 2021 Medigene AG (Medigene, FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company focusing on the development of T cell immunotherapies, reported that will present new data on the in vitro validation of a "dark matter" ovarian tumor-specific antigen (Press release, MediGene, NOV 9, 2021, View Source [SID1234594983]). The data will be presented as a poster at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper)’s (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 36th Annual Meeting being held in Washington, DC, USA, on 10 to 14 November 2021.
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The SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) poster shows in vitro validation of T cell therapies that combine T cell receptors (TCRs) recognizing a "dark matter" ovarian tumor-specific antigen with CD8+ T cells from healthy donors. Using T cells from three different donors, TCR transgenic T cells were activated by cells from ovarian tumor-derived organoids but not by cells from cultures of normal ovarian tissue.
Medigene’s "dark matter" antigens are derived from non-exomic regions of the genome that are not transcribed in normal cells but are transcribed in cancer cells. The ovarian tumor-specific antigen used is one of 47 "dark matter" antigens specific to solid tumors identified in Medigene’s ongoing exclusive collaboration with the University of Montréal investigating "dark matter" antigens in a variety of cancer types. Under the collaboration, Medigene will select a number of antigens on which it wishes to retain rights for future development.
Prof. Dolores Schendel, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer at Medigene: "These data illustrate why Medigene investigates tumor-specific "dark matter" antigens for directing the company’s TCR-T cell therapies. The "dark matter" antigens are not present in normal, non-tumorous tissues. Using them as target for the TCRs in our TCR-T cells potentially allows us to design tumor-specific agents. Across three different T cell donors, responses from Medigene’s TCR-T cells to cultured ovarian tumor cells are orders of magnitude higher than those against cultured normal ovarian cells. The consistent pattern of differentiated activation is very encouraging. We are pleased to share these data with the immunotherapy community at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper)."
The poster can be found on Medigene’s website after the end of the conference: View Source
JITC’s Immune Cell Therapies and Immune Cell Engineering Best Paper Award
Separately, SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper) has selected the paper "Development of a CD8 co-receptor independent T-cell receptor specific for tumor-associated antigen MAGE-A4 for next generation T-cell-based immunotherapy" from Medigene and its collaboration partner bluebird bio, Inc. (now: 2seventy bio, Inc.) to receive the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer’s Award for Best Immune Cell Therapies and Immune Cell Engineering Paper. Co-lead authors Dr. Kathrin Davari and Dr. Tristan Holland will receive the award at SITC (Free SITC Whitepaper)’s Annual Meeting Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 13 November 2021.
Prof. Schendel: "We are extremely proud that the quality of our scientific work has been so highly recognized by this award. I would like to personally congratulate once again all my colleagues and our cooperation partner and thank them for the always wonderful and constructive work. Each and every day, it is a great pleasure to see how our projects are progressing and I look forward to many more publications."