On December 3, 2018 NeoImmuneTech, Inc., an immunotherapy drug development company focused on advanced cancer treatments, reported the presentation of two preclinical studies supporting the potential of combining Hyleukin-7 with Universal CAR-T (UCART) treatment to enhance and prolong the activity of allogeneic "off-the-shelf" adoptive immunotherapy for the treatment of B cell and T cell lymphomas (Press release, NeoImmuneTech, DEC 3, 2018, View Source [SID1234531839]). The data were presented in an oral presentation and a poster session at the 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) (Free ASH Whitepaper) Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego, CA.

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The two studies, conducted in collaboration with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, evaluated the effects that Hyleukin-7, a long-acting T cell amplifier, had in combination with different types of UCART treatments. The researchers evaluated Hyleukin-7’s effects on proliferation, differentiation and tumor killing capacity of UCARTs in tumor models of B cell lymphoma and T cell lymphoma. The T cell lymphoma model was a physiologically-relevant patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse model of Sézary syndrome (SS), an aggressive and highly-morbid cutaneous T cell lymphoma with no widely-effective treatments.

Hyleukin-7 was shown to dramatically enhance UCART proliferation, persistence and tumor killing in vivo, resulting in enhanced survival in both models. Furthermore, the results suggest that the addition of Hyleukin-7 dramatically increased the activity of UCART treatment and could provide a tunable, clinic-ready "enabling therapy" for suboptimal CART activity in vivo.

"NeoImmuneTech’s Hyleukin-7 has broad potential to strengthen our immune system in its battle against both foreign invaders as well as enemies within, adding a therapeutic effect wherever the body’s T cells are weak or in low numbers," said Se Hwan Yang, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of NeoImmuneTech. "These latest experiments in lymphoma models show that Hyleukin-7 may also strengthen and prolong the effects of T cell therapies, such as CAR-T. The beneficial effects of Hyleukin-7 when combined with UCART are highly encouraging, as developing an effective, off-the-shelf and universal CAR-T therapeutic is a major goal for immuno-oncology drug developers. NeoImmuneTech’s main focus is advancing our clinical trials with Hyleukin-7 as efficiently as possible so that we can ultimately deliver it in a timely manner to patients in need."

Dr. John F. DiPersio, M.D., Ph.D., Chief, Division of Oncology and Deputy Director of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine added: "CAR-T therapies hold a great promise for cancer patients, as well as for other diseases. We have made incredible steps toward creating a universal CAR-T that would highly increase the percent of people that can benefit from this technology, while significantly decreasing the time to treatment and the cost of production. However, a major hurdle that still remains for both current and future CAR-T treatments is the short effective period for these cells in the body. Hyleukin-7 has the potential to boost both the time and the effectivity of CAR-T treatments, and we are looking forward to the continued clinical development of this drug candidate."

Presentation Details:
Abstract number: 340
Title: Modeling Sézary Syndrome for Immunophenotyping and Anti-Tumor Effect of Ucart and Long-Acting Interleukin-7 Combination Therapy
Type: Oral presentation
Time: Sunday, December 2, 2018: 10:15 AM
Location: Room 28D (San Diego Convention Center)

Abstract number: 2199
Title: A Long-Acting Pharmacological Grade Interleukin-7 Molecule Logarithmically Accelerates Ucart Proliferation, Differentiation, and Tumor Killing
Type: Poster presentation
Time: Saturday, December 1, 2018, 6:15 PM-8:15 PM
Location: Hall GH (San Diego Convention Center)

About Hyleukin-7
Hyleukin-7 (rhIL-7-hyFc, NT-I7), an immuno-oncology agent, is a T cell amplifier comprising a covalently linked homodimer of engineered Interleukin-7 (IL-7) molecule, biologically fused with the proprietary long-acting platform – hyFc. IL-7 is known to be a critical factor for T cells, acting to increase both the number and functionality of T cells. Hyleukin-7 could play a pivotal role in reconstituting and reinvigorating T cell immunity in the treatment of patients with cancer and lymphopenia, as well as providing unique opportunities for immuno-oncology (IO) combination strategies. Hyleukin-7 is being developed as an "IO enabling" therapy to harness T cell immunity in combination with current cancer treatments such as anti-PD-(L)1 agents or chemo/radiotherapy. NeoImmuneTech and Genexine, Inc. (Genexine) are collaborating in three Phase 1b/2a clinical trials in advanced solid tumors and glioblastoma in the US and Korea.