Imugene Ltd (ASX:IMU, OTC:IUGNF) and NeoImmuneTech Inc, a T-cell-focused, US-based biopharmaceutical firm, have announced a strategic partnership to explore the potential of combining Imugene's allogeneic CAR T therapy, azer-cel, with NeoImmuneTech's unique immune T cell amplifier, NT-I7, for effective cancer treatment.
This preclinical work will be crucial in determining the effectiveness of the combined therapies in fighting cancer more robustly.
Promising results
Azer-cel, a therapy program targeting CD19 CAR T cells, has shown promising results in treating blood cancers like lymphoma and leukemia, showing clinically meaningful activity and an acceptable safety profile.
Allogeneic CAR T therapies like azer-cel are developed from donor cells rather than from a patient's own cells, making them more readily available and potentially faster to bring to market.
NT-I7 (efineptakin alfa) is a pioneering development in cancer treatment. It's the only long-acting human interleukin-7 (IL-7) cytokine currently in clinical-stage development. IL-7 is crucial for T cell development and survival.
NT-I7 boosts the number of cancer-fighting T cells, enhancing their health and functionality. This results in a strengthened immune response against cancer.
Compared to naturally occurring IL-7, NT-I7 offers improved stability, activity and safety profiles, making it an excellent candidate for combination with cell therapies like azer-cel.
Focus on T cell efficacy
The collaboration between NeoImmuneTech and Imugene will focus on two key areas. It will assess the ability of NT-I7 to amplify the production of azer-cel allogeneic CAR T cells during manufacturing. This could potentially lead to producing more treatment doses from a single batch.
Secondly, it will evaluate the combination's potential to enhance the number and efficacy of a patient's own T cells during treatment with azer-cel.
“We are delighted to be working with NIT on the potential to enhance azer-cel activity as part of this research collaboration,” said Imugene managing director and CEO Leslie Chong.
“NT-I7 has already shown encouraging results in multiple indications in immuno-oncology and infectious diseases, both as a monotherapy or in combination,” NeoImmuneTech president and CEO Dr Se Hwan Yang said.
“The research collaboration with Imugene, an industry leader in allogeneic cell therapy, could greatly expand the potential of our asset and accelerate its path to commercialization, as we did in acute radiation syndrome.”
The fine print
The strategic collaboration will continue for two years while relevant research activities are performed, exclusively in the US, under the research plan.
Imugene will fund its component of the strategic collaboration through its existing planned research activities and no additional or new funding will be required. The funding of Imugene research activities is material and is allowed for in the company’s existing research budget.
Each party has full intellectual property rights to their individual background technology. In the event new intellectual property is generated from the strategic collaboration, the parties shall discuss in good faith the filing, prosecution, maintenance, enforcement and defence of any patent applications for this joint collaboration technology, as well as each party’s right to use it.