{"id":40104,"date":"2020-10-15T11:24:58","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T15:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=40104"},"modified":"2020-10-15T15:36:44","modified_gmt":"2020-10-15T19:36:44","slug":"cancer-center-biotech-partner-on-off-the-shelf-t-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=40104","title":{"rendered":"Cancer Center, Biotech Partner on Off-the-Shelf T-Cells"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"T-cells<\/a>
Killer T-cells surround a cancer cell (NICHD, Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

15 Oct. 2020. MD Anderson Cancer Center and Allogene Therapeutics Inc. agreed to jointly study the company’s cancer treatments derived from donated T-cells. Financial and intellectual property details of the agreement between MD Anderson<\/a>, part of the University of Texas system in Houston, and Allogene Therapeutics<\/a>, in South San Francisco, California, were not disclosed.<\/p>\n

Allogene Therapeutics is developing treatments for blood-related and solid tumor cancers with engineered T-cells<\/a>, white blood cells in the immune system. T-cells are altered by adding\u00a0chimeric antigen receptors<\/a>, proteins attracting antibodies that bind to and destroy blood-related and solid tumor cancer cells. Current methods producing chimeric antigen receptor T-cells, known as CAR T-cells, genetically engineer a patient\u2019s own T-cells, then re-infuse the altered T-cells back into the individual, with successful results for blood-related cancers in some cases.<\/p>\n

The company’s process<\/a> is designed to produce off-the-shelf CAR T-cell treatments from T-cells provided by healthy donors. Allogene says this approach provides a ready supply of CAR T-cell therapies in patients, where their often critical conditions won’t allow harvesting of these cells. The process also removes the need for leukapheresis<\/a>, the process of separating white blood cells in the lab from whole blood donations and returning the remainder to the patient.<\/p>\n

Allogene produces its T-cells, called AlloCAR Ts, to seek out and bind to cancer cells expressing specific characteristic proteins on their cell surfaces. Three of the company’s lead products<\/a>, now in early-stage clinical trials, target a protein called\u00a0CD19<\/a> found on the surface of B cells \u2014 another type of white blood cell \u2014 associated with several blood-related cancers. Another target of Allogene treatments is the B cell maturation antigen, or BCMA<\/a>, protein, also associated with blood-related cancers, with one product in an early-stage trial.<\/p>\n

The five-year agreement calls for MD Anderson and Allogene to collaborate on preclinical studies and clinical trials of AlloCAR T candidates. Allogene is providing funds and AlloCAR T candidates for study, both for blood-related and solid tumor cancers, with a joint Anderson-Allogen committee overseeing the project. The joint committee will also oversee regulatory filings.<\/p>\n

“This collaboration,” says Christopher Flowers<\/a>, MD Anderson’s interim cancer medicine division head in a statement, “will enable us to work together closely to advance allogeneic cell therapies to better address significant unmet medical needs for patients across the spectrum of oncologic diseases.”<\/p>\n

In April 2018, Science & Enterprise<\/a> reported on Allogene Therapeutics’ founding, initial funding, and acquisition of off-the-shelf T-cell technology. The company was started by former executives of Kite Pharma, a company that helped pioneer CAR T-cell treatments for cancer using a patient\u2019s own T-cells. In August 2017, Kite Pharma was\u00a0acquired for nearly $12 billion<\/a>\u00a0by biopharmaceutical maker Gilead Sciences. Arie Belldegrun, Allogene\u2019s executive chairman<\/a>, was Kite Pharma\u2019s president and CEO, while David Chang, formerly Kite\u2019s R&D and chief medical officer, is now Allogene\u2019s president and CEO.<\/p>\n

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