On September 14, 2022 Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. ("Biocytogen", HKEX: 02315) reported a strategic collaboration with Guangzhou FineImmune Biotechnology Co., LTD. ("FineImmune") to co-develop cell-based therapeutic drugs targeting intracellular tumor-associated antigens (Press release, Biocytogen, SEP 14, 2022, View Source [SID1234619563]). Biocytogen will use its proprietary TCR-mimic antibody platform to discover fully human antibody sequences that will be further developed using FineImmune’s unique cell therapy platform.
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Biocytogen’s TCR-mimic antibody development platform utilizes its proprietary fully human antibody RenMice (RenMab and RenLite mice) that have been further engineered to express a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene. Antibodies against intracellular tumor-associated antigens are subjected to advanced high-throughput antibody screening technologies to discover antibodies with high specificity and affinity.
"Most tumor antigens are intracellular, and our TCR-mimic platform provides a solution for developing antibodies against these valuable targets," said Dr. Yuelei Shen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Biocytogen. "TCR-mimic antibodies generated by our TCR-mimic platform have potentials to be developed into multiple drug modalities such as T cell engagers, bispecific/multispecific antibodies and CAR-T therapies. We are pleased to collaborate with FineImmune to explore the application of our antibodies in the field of cell therapies."
FineImmune is a pioneering T cell therapy company, and has solved multiple critical barriers in the microenvironment of solid tumors by using multiple proprietary technology platforms, such as GSOP for T-cell engineering, HAP for TCR identification, CMP for personalized TCR-T cell production and in vivo T-cell delivery platform (TDP). FineImmune’s product pipelines include TCR-T, CAR-T, TAL, TIL, etc. The company developed the first personalized neoantigen-specific TCR-T cell therapy, which is in phase I clinical trial now. In addition, FineImmune possesses technologies for the precision prediction of the efficacy and side effects of immunotherapy, enabling healthcare professionals to provide effective and safe immunotherapy to patients with common malignant tumors.
"T cells play an important role in treating cancers. Biocytogen’s advanced TCR-mimic platform makes it possible for us to develop T cell therapies against crucial but low-expressed intracellular tumor antigens," said Dr. Penghui Zhou, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of FineImmune. "We focus on providing efficient and safe immunotherapy using advanced technologies. This collaboration will promote the development of new cell therapeutic drugs and the expansion of the potential of immunotherapy to benefit patients."
About the TCR-Mimic Platform
Biocytogen’s T Cell Receptor (TCR)-Mimic platform utilizes HLA-expressing fully human antibody mice (HLA/RenMice) to generate antibodies to intracellular tumor-associated antigens when immunized with MHC-antigen-peptide complexes. Subsequently, Biocytogen’s high-throughput antibody screening platform aims to swiftly identify TCR-mimic antibodies with higher specificity and affinity than endogenous TCRs derived from patients. Currently, antibody sequences against multiple intracellular targets have been obtained, and their efficacies have been verified in vitro and in vivo. Fully human antibody sequences obtained from the TCR-mimic platform can empower the development of T cell engagers, bispecific/multispecific antibodies, and CAR-T therapies.