On November 13, 2021 Triumvira Immunologics ("Triumvira"), a clinical-stage company developing novel, targeted autologous and allogeneic T cell therapeutics that do not require gene editing and co-opt the natural biology of T cells to treat patients with solid tumors, reported the presentation of preclinical data from its proof-of-concept study in gastric cancer (Press release, Triumvira Immunologics, NOV 13, 2021, View Source [SID1234595519]). These new data demonstrate that Triumvira’s novel T cell antigen coupler (TAC)-T cell candidate targeting Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2) effectively eradicates CLDN18.2-expressing gastric tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. The results will be presented in a poster presentation today at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) (Free SITC Whitepaper) 36th Annual Meeting, taking place November 10-14, 2021, virtually and in-person at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.
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CLDN18.2 is a promising, clinically validated target for cancer drug development as gastrointestinal malignancies, more prominently gastric tumor cells, have been found to selectively express CLDN18.2 on their surface, making it a preferred antigen for specific targeting of tumor cells using TAC-T cells. A key feature of TAC-T cells is the proprietary TAC receptor, a multi-domain chimeric molecule that works directly with the natural T cell receptor to help a T cell recognize and attack cancer cells. Unlike CAR-T cells, TAC-T cells do not exhibit tonic signaling, do not show premature exhaustion, show long term persistence, and demonstrate deep penetration into and activation in solid tumors in various preclinical models.
"We’re excited about the level of activity we are seeing with our Claudin 18.2-directed TAC-T cells in our preclinical models of gastric cancer," said Andreas Bader, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Triumvira. "These results confirm the versatility of our TAC platform for difficult-to-treat solid tumors and pave the way for initiating IND-enabling studies in an effort to bring CLDN18.2-TAC T cells to patients as quickly as possible in an area of significantly unmet medical need."
In addition to eradicating CLDN18.2-expressing gastric tumor cells in vitro and in vivo, the study demonstrated that the activation of CLDN18.2-TAC T cells was specific to target cells that expressed CLDN18.2. CLDN18.2-TAC T cells did not show signs of auto-activation or elevated exhaustion markers post-manufacturing, which is a key feature of the TAC technology designed to enhance the durability of TAC-T products.
Details of the poster presentation are as follows:
Poster Title: Development of Claudin 18.2 TAC T cells for the treatment of gastric cancer
Poster Number: 118
Category: Cellular Therapies
Date and Time: Saturday, November 13, 2021; 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. EST
Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Hall E
Presenter: Christopher Helsen, Ph.D. – Executive Director, Research and Development, Triumvira