On November 19, 2019 Torque, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing Deep Primed T cell immunotherapy to direct immune power deep within the tumor microenvironment, reported additional preclinical data for its lead Deep IL-15 Primed T cell, Deep IL-12 Primed T cell, and Deep TLR Primed T cell therapeutics programs (Press release, Torque Therapeutics, NOV 19, 2019, View Source [SID1234551493]). The data were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy taking place November 17–20, 2019 in Boston.
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"IL-15 and IL-12 are potent cytokines with complementary tumor-attacking capabilities that have been explored as cancer immunotherapies, but severe side effects have limited their clinical success. The preclinical data we presented at this year’s AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy demonstrate that co-administering Deep IL-12 Primed and Deep IL-15 Primed T cells directs the stimulatory activity of these cytokines to the tumor microenvironment and leverages their complementary biology to prime and boost the immune response of T cell therapies to achieve superior efficacy, with limited systemic exposure and toxicity," said Thomas Andresen, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Torque. "In addition, we presented data demonstrating that Deep TLR Primed T cells leverage the immune-stimulating potential of TLR agonists to achieve superior anti-tumor efficacy while avoiding systemic exposure and toxicities, the key current bottlenecks to successful TLR therapy."
Highlights of the two preclinical presentations follow, and copies of the posters are available on the Torque website: https://bit.ly/34yZnTU
Poster A68: "Combining Deep IL-12 Primed and Deep IL-15 Primed T cells induces potent antigen-dependent in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo antitumor activity"
Presenter: Elena Geretti, PhD, Torque
Date & Time: Monday, November 18, 12:30 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Key findings from the study:
In preclinical models, co-administration of Deep IL-12 and Deep IL-15 T cells leveraged their complementary immunodulatory functions and elicited superior anti-tumor activity and was well tolerated, without notable toxicity.
Poster B66: "Deep TLR Primed T cells induce potent antitumor activity without systemic toxicity"
Presenter: Nathan Westcott, Torque
Date & Time: Tuesday, November 19, 4:30 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
Key findings from the study:
In preclinical models, Deep TLR Primed T cells released a potent small-molecule TLR agonist over an extended period of time and increased anti-tumor activity while avoiding systemic exposure and toxicities.
About Deep-Primed T Cell Therapeutics
Torque is developing a new class of Deep-Primed cellular immunotherapy designed to overcome the key challenges limiting broad use of cellular therapy in oncology, including the ability to target tumors that express multiple heterogeneous antigens, the ability to overcome the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that shuts down T cell function, and the need for cost-effective outpatient treatment with a high margin of safety. Deep-Priming is a unique technology platform that harnesses natural T cell biology and the power of cytokine activation to prime and boost a full immune response in the tumor microenvironment. Deep-Primed T cells are designed to:
1. Activate a Deep Immune Response Against Solid Tumors & Hematologic Cancers: Natural T cell receptors are primed to target multiple tumor antigens and retain their natural ability to integrate with the full immune system to direct a deep and comprehensive immune response against cancer.
2. Prime and Boost Broad Immune Cell Engagement to Overcome Immunosuppression in the Tumor Microenvironment: Deep-Primed T cells carry surface-anchored cytokines and immunomodulators to jump-start the engagement and coordination of the full network of immune cells to direct immune power in the tumor microenvironment, without significant systemic exposure.
Torque’s first clinical program, TRQ-1501 (Deep IL-15 Primed T cells), has received FDA Fast Track designation for the treatment of relapsed or refractory solid tumors and lymphomas and is currently in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for this indication.