Immunology and Biotherapies

Abstract

Scientific insights into the human immune system have recently led to unprecedented breakthroughs in immunotherapy. In the twenty-first century, drugs and cell-based therapies developed to bolster humoral and T cell immunity represent an established and growing component of cancer therapeutics. Although natural killer (NK) cells have long been known to have advantages over T cells in terms of their capacity to induce antigen-independent host immune responses against malignancies, their therapeutic potential in the clinic has been largely unexplored. A growing number of scientific discoveries into pathways that both activate and suppress NK cell function, as well as methods to sensitize tumours to NK cell cytotoxicity, have led to the development of numerous pharmacological and genetic methods to enhance NK cell antitumour immunity. These findings, as well as advances in our ability to expand NK cells ex vivoand manipulate their capacity to home to the tumour, have now provided investigators with a variety of new methods and strategies to harness the full potential of NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy in the clinic.

Via Krishan Maggon

Ektomun® is a member of the highly innovative, validated family of Triomab® antibodies. It combines the halves of two distinct full-size antibodies, a GD2-specific mouse antibody and a T -cell specific rat antibody, in one molecule.

 

GD2 is a clinically validated tumor target opening many potential applications for ektomun®. It is broadly present in tumors of neuroectodermal origin, including small cell lung cancer (SCLC), melanoma, neuroblastoma and glioblastoma. In healthy tissues, however, GD2 expression is strictly limited to very few, distinct cell types.

 

Due to its trifunctional design, ektomun® can simultaneously bind to GD2, expressed by  tumor cells, to a T-cell and, via its Fc-region, to an accessory cell of the innate immune system, as e.g. macrophages, dendritic or NK cells.

 

The resulting tri-cell-complex triggers multiple immune mechanisms at the same time.  Not only are tumor cells specifically and potently destroyed, but a long-lasting anti-tumor immunity is also induced – an effect that can otherwise only be achieved through vaccination.

Via Krishan Maggon