Abnova T-cell Therapy Demonstrated Efficacy against Large Solid Tumors in Preclinical Studies

Neihu, Taiwan (September 10, 2018)

Abnova announced today its T-cell therapy (inducible T infiltrating lymphocyte, iTIL) technology exclusively licensed from MD Anderson Cancer Center has demonstrated efficacy against large solid tumor in preclinical studies, published in Clinical Cancer Research 24(12); 1-15, 2018 “T-cell Homing Therapy for Reducing Regulatory T Cells and Preserving Effector T-cell Function in Large Solid Tumors.” This is the first study of its kind to show not only tumor regression but also deep penetration of CD8+ T cells reaching the center of tumors as large as 10mm in diameter in human xenograft tumor models. This exciting result should catapult and broaden the application of iTIL T-cell therapy against solid tumor tumors which so far have been resistant to CAR T-cell therapy. Abnova is currently working with its GMP manufacturing partner to active pursue all preclinical requirements for entering into Phase I clinical trial.

As of September this year, Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) has officially implemented the regulations and guidelines for six major cell therapy technologies including autologous T cell therapy against cancer in Taiwan. This major milestone corresponds to the recent advances in cell therapy products being approved globally because of the rapid development of cell culture, preservation, and preparation to ensure greater safety and efficacy. T-cell therapy also provides the cancer patients access to treatment where no suitable drugs or other therapeutic modalities are available.

As solid tumors progress, all of the current therapies including monoclonal antibody, tumor vaccine, immune checkpoint blockade fall short of immune cell tumor penetration, tumor antigen escape, and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The tumor relapses and become refractory which ends in the death of the patient. Overcoming these obstacles is the holy grail of immunotherapy particular for solid tumors. Abnova T-cell therapy platform not only boosted T cell infiltration into solid tumors, but also upregulated the levels of T cell-attracting chemokines, attracting T cells to the tumor microenvironment and enhancing the persistence of infiltrated T cells by improving the ratios of costimulatory and coinhibitory receptors.