Novel T cell therapies against lymphocytic leukaemia

Introduction

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is the most common type of leukaemia globally and can rarely be cured. Despite recent advances, the efficacy of promising autologous T cell-based therapies, such as CAR-T technology and bi-/tri-specific antibodies, has been disappointing. This stems from T cell dysfunction in this disease setting: altered T cell skewing, impaired metabolic plasticity, and disrupted T-cell functioning.

Research Focus

Prof. Arnon Kater's group studies alternative activation pathways to overcome T cell dysfunction and stimulate an immune response.

Project Overview

CATCH will explore the technical and commercial feasibility of alternative T-cell activation, through CAR-T and tri-specific antibody technologies.

Objectives

To reach proof-of-concept stage, in this project we will:

1. Validate the efficacy of two applications (CAR-T, tri-specific antibody) by achieving T-cell activation and killing target cells in in-vitro CLL samples and live specimens.
2. Perform a thorough IP landscape analysis, establish Freedom-to-Operate, and define an IP strategy.
3. Engage with key stakeholders to gather feedback and advice from key perspectives (patient, clinical, industry), conduct market research to discover potential customers/industrial partners, analyze competitors, and identify a feasible roadmap to commercialization.
4. Formulate a detailed business case to guide the commercialization of CATCH.