This technology is a strategy for selective T cell repopulation that enhances immunotherapy by quantifying and expanding progenitor T cells within tumors and peripheral blood in conjunction with immunotherapy.
Although anti-PD-1 therapies have improved cancer outcomes, durable responses are limited in many patients. A key factor is the insufficient levels of progenitor T cells available to respond to checkpoint inhibitors. Therapeutic interventions involving metabolic modulation upstream of the T cell activation pathway may expand responses to existing immunotherapeutics in a broad range of cancer types and autoimmune disorders by expanding the amount of critical progenitor T cells. Additionally, measurement of progenitor T cells may help elucidate patient responsiveness to treatment.
This technology identifies T cell biomarkers that can be used to determine and modulate patient responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors. By measuring the number of TCF-1+ T cells in a blood or tumor sample, it can help to identify therapeutic strategies for non-responsive patients. Further, this technology offers a strategy for modulating metabolic pathways to strategically replenish T-cell populations. As such, this technology has the potential to increase the therapeutic effectiveness of immunotherapies and personalized treatments.
This technology has been validated in multiple mouse models of cancer as well as corroborated by clinical findings in a melanoma cohort, in which relative levels of the self-renewing progenitor T cells measured prior to treatment with immunotherapy predicted clinical benefit.
Patent Pending (US20240027465)
IR CU20336
Licensing Contact: Devin Jones
