On March 20, 2025 Marengo Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering novel discovery of reprogramming T cell repertoire for precision immunotherapy in oncology and autoimmune diseases, reported a multi-year research collaboration in oncology and autoimmune diseases with E John Wherry, Ph.D., Director of the Institute for Immunology and Immune Health (I3H) at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (Penn) (Press release, Marengo Therapeutics, MAR 20, 2025, View Source [SID1234651328]).
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The research collaboration with Dr. Wherry and his laboratory will provide deeper insights into the mechanism of action of Marengo’s selective dual T cell agonists in oncology, while also accelerating the development of its novel precision T cell depletion platform (M-STAR) through translational research investigating the use of germline TCR regions in autoimmune diseases.
"By targeting germline-encoded regions of the TCR, Marengo’s foundational platform enables the generation of new classes of selectively targeted T cell therapeutics that we believe will reprogram the T cell repertoire and unlock new therapeutic applications across a range of disease areas," said Andrew Bayliffe, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Marengo. "Partnering with the Wherry lab will improve our understanding of our selective T cell agonists in oncology and expand our pipeline of game-changing precision T cell depleters for autoimmune diseases."
Dr. Wherry, the Richard and Barbara Schiffrin President’s Distinguished Professor and chair of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at Penn, is a leading expert in T cell research. As demonstrated by his seminal work in characterizing mechanisms of T cell exhaustion and T cell checkpoint inhibition in oncology, Dr. Wherry’s research focuses on high-dimensional immune profiling to identify targets that harness the immune system’s ability to fight diverse immunological diseases.
"My team is dedicated to advancing innovative T cell therapies," said Professor Wherry, "The ability to selectively promote activation or depletion of T cell subsets has great potential in oncology and autoimmune diseases, respectively. Further understanding the disease association of these germline TCR regions compared to in healthy populations is relatively understudied and can identify valuable opportunities for precision immunology therapies in a range of diseases."