Next-Generation Immunotherapies
Our approach is focused on T-cell receptors, or TCRs, from discovery to clinical translation as TCR-T cell therapies and beyond, creating the next generation of TCR-T cells. We target the most critical and prevalent tumor-specific targets in cancer with cost-effective and efficient solutions to manufacturing and adaptive, fast-paced clinical trials poised for results and ultimately better patient outcomes.
Alaunos’ Clinical TCR Library targets the most frequent mutations in KRAS, TP53 and EGFR which are prevalent in gastrointestinal (colon, bile duct, pancreas), lung, and gynecological (ovary and endometrial) cancers in a number of different HLA alleles. Therefore, our TCR-T cell Library approach has the potential to benefit a significant population of patients with unmet clinical need.
The non-viral Sleeping Beauty transposon/transposase system is used to introduce the TCR gene into autologous T cells from the patient. Sleeping Beauty transposition is cost-effective, rapid, flexible and efficiently integrates the introduced TCR for stable, long-term expression. Our current Library comprises clinic-ready TCRs, which can be manufactured at a fraction of the cost of other gene transfer technologies (viral, gene editing) at an internal, state-of-the-art cell manufacturing facility developed to support the clinic by producing autologous TCR-T cell products. Our employees are the world’s leaders in TCR transposition, and we grow TCR-T cells under best practices built to meet both current clinical development needs and scale to fulfill future long-term commercial success..
A company-sponsored Phase 1/2 trial is underway at MD Anderson Cancer Center targeting solid tumors with our engineered TCR-T cells. The trial will evaluate ten TCRs across a basket of indications to accelerate the identification of cancer subtypes that may display early efficacy signals. Our adaptive clinical trial design will enable rapid dose finding and dose expansion to cohorts of patients with high likelihood of benefiting from TCR-T cell therapy.
We are dedicated to developing the next generation of TCR-T cell therapies through a robust R&D engine
Our hunTR® (human neoantigen T-cell Receptor) platform harnesses our state-of-the-art TCR discovery process with a proprietary high-throughput TCR functional validation to streamline the addition of exclusively owned, high-quality TCRs to our existing TCR-T cell therapy infrastructure. We are augmenting TCR-T cells through co-expression of membrane-bound interleukin-15 (mbIL-15) on the TCR-T cell surface. Immune monitoring and in-depth clinical biomarker analyses of tumors from patients treated on our TCR-T cell therapy clinical trial aim to inform on additional next-generation efforts. We are dedicated to improving and maximizing the power of TCR-T cell therapy for cancer patients.