On May 31, 2017 Atreca, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapeutics based on a deep understanding of the human immune response, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reported that they have entered into a collaborative research agreement to focus Atreca’s IRC technology on the active immune responses of cancer patients whose disease is responding well to immunotherapy and other treatments (Press release, Atreca, MAY 31, 2017, View Source [SID1234522953]). The research will apply Atreca’s Immune Repertoire Capture (IRC) technology, which identifies and generates sequences of functional, native antibodies and T cell receptors (TCRs) from active human immune responses.
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A team of scientists led by F. Stephen Hodi, M.D., Director of the Melanoma Center and Center for Immuno-Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, will collaborate with Atreca to study how different immunotherapies generate an active immune response, to understand why only a subset of patients benefit from therapy, and to identify anti-tumor antibodies generated in these responses. The study will focus on patients with melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and renal cell cancer, with the potential to expand into other cancer types.
"We are excited to collaborate with the accomplished team at Atreca. Through this unique collaboration, we believe we can work together to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents and treatment paradigms with the potential to improve patient outcomes in diverse cancer indications," stated Dr. Hodi.
"It is a thrilling opportunity for us to partner with one of the world’s leading institutions advancing cancer treatment," said Tito A. Serafini, Ph.D., Atreca’s President, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-Founder. "Previous peer-reviewed findings have demonstrated that our IRC technology delivers valuable data from the active immune responses of patients. We believe the collaboration with Dana-Farber, focused on generating such actionable data, will make an important contribution to our immuno- oncology therapeutics programs."
Atreca applies IRC to generate sequences of native antibodies and TCRs from cancer patients, patients with autoimmune disease, vaccinated subjects, and patients who resolve infections. Analyses of the resulting essentially unbiased and error-free repertoires yield valuable insights, as well as potent antibodies targeting tumors, pathogens, and autoimmune epitopes.