Replay, MD Anderson partner to create first engineered cell therapy for solid tumors
Replay, MD Anderson partner to create first engineered cell therapy for solid tumors
Replay, MD Anderson partner to create first engineered cell therapy for solid tumors
Published: Feb 15, 2023
By Hayleigh Evans
BioSpace
Genome engineering company Replay and The University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center have joined forces to launch Syena, an oncology product company.
Syena will incorporate Replay and MD Anderson’s technologies to advance T cell receptor (TCR) and natural killer (NK) cell therapies, creating a new pipeline of cancer treatments using a TCR-NK platform. If successful, Syena could establish the first successful engineered cell therapy for solid tumors.
MD Anderson’s latest endeavor will expand cell therapy discoveries by Katy Rezvani, a professor of stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy at the university.
“NK cells play a pivotal role in anticancer immunity and, following the successes of CAR T-cell therapy, and the potential for CAR-NK therapies, TCR-NK cells are positioned to be a next-generation agent for cancer therapy,” Rezvani said in a statement.
Before the launch, MD Anderson made significant advancements in the field. At MD Anderson, Rezvani studied how NK cells trigger immunological activity against malignancies and how to strengthen this response. These discoveries inspired this partnership and Syena’s mission to construct a pipeline of TCR-NK cell therapies.
Syena has attained licenses to implement Replay’s cell and genome engineering technology. By blending TCR and NK cancer therapies with natural and artificial systems, Syena aims to create cancer treatments with improved safety and efficacy.
The partnership’s first priority is to target NY-ESO-1, a cancer cell protein marker. Syena intends to begin human trials for these therapies during the second quarter of this year.
TCR treatments identify proteins typically located inside the cell. Syena researchers hope NK cells can pinpoint external protein fragments originating from cell surface immune proteins by combining these treatments.
This approach differs from existing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapies that recognize proteins exclusive to the cell’s surface.
The partners plan to combat a variety of tumor antigens, which can create therapies for both hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Current engineered cell therapies have not treated solid tumors effectively.
Source: BioSpace