On October 12, 2021 Synlogic, Inc. (Nasdaq: SYBX), a clinical stage company bringing the transformative potential of synthetic biology to medicine, reported the publication in Nature of preclinical research with live biotherapeutic products designed using the Company’s Synthetic Biotic platform (Press release, Synlogic, OCT 12, 2021, View Source [SID1234591151]). In the study, a live biotherapeutic product modulated the tumor microenvironment and increased susceptibility to immunotherapy in a murine model. The research was led by Synlogic collaborators and Professor Roger Geiger of the Institute of Oncology Research, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
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The paper, "Metabolic modulation of tumours with engineered bacteria for immunotherapy" demonstrated that, following intratumoral injection in a murine model, a live biotherapeutic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 strain engineered to convert ammonia to L-arginine colonized and was active within the tumor microenvironment. Administration of this strain also resulted in increased numbers of tumor-infiltrating T cells and demonstrated synergistic anti-tumor activity when administered in conjunction with anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy.
It has been reported that low intratumoral levels of L-arginine in human cancers may contribute to an ineffective response to immunotherapy. The administration of live biotherapeutics has the potential to improve therapeutic response.
"We were very pleased to collaborate with Professor Geiger on this research and gratified to see a novel Synthetic Biotic approach published in Nature. The data demonstrate another potential method by which our therapeutic platform may be used to modulate underlying biology of relevance to human disease," said David Hava, Ph.D. Chief Scientific Officer at Synlogic. "We believe that our investigational live biotherapeutic approach holds great promise for the development of transformative therapeutics for a variety of serious diseases. We intend to steadfastly focus on our ongoing clinical programs in metabolic diseases, while also supporting the exploration of novel applications for our platform with academic leaders such as Dr. Geiger."