Intrexon, ZIOPHARM, and MD Anderson Collaborate In CAR T Cells Immunotherapy
Intrexon, ZIOPHARM, and MD Anderson Collaborate In CAR T Cells Immunotherapy
These biological technologies have been developed by Dr. Laurence Cooper and Dr. Perry Hackett’s laboratories, which are pioneers in clinical research of fresh chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies made of non-viral gene integration platforms. When this type of platform is combined with Intrexon’s technology and ZIOPHARM’s RheoSwitch Therapeutic System interleukin-12 elements, it could lead to genetically engineered CAR T cells that permit a managed cellular expansion and activation, lowering therapeutic side effects and undesired toxicity, resulting in significant therapeutic outcomes.
“Genetically engineering our patients’ immune-system T cells to efficiently attack and demolish cancer cells represents one of the most titillating approaches with curative potential in oncology today,” MD Anderson President Ron DePinho, M.D., said in a press release. “We believe coupling MD Anderson’s unique CAR T cell treatment with the powerful technologies of ZIOPHARM and Intrexon will permit us to build T cells that hit cancer stiffer, with greater precision, under tighter control and with potentially fewer side effects for patients. This agreement ranks as one of MD Anderson’s most substantial collaborations and will provide significant resources to fuel its mission of Making Cancer History®.”
“We are proud to see Perry Hackett’s discovery and development work on Sleeping Beauty, a non-viral DNA plasmid-based gene transfer system, in conjunction with Dr. Cooper’s expertise in immunotherapies, provide this breakthrough in oncology” added Brian Hermann, Vice President of Research at the University of Minnesota.
This collaboration will permit the development and clinical testing of next-generation non-viral adoptive cellular therapies created from specific cytokines and CARs and managed by RheoSwitch technology, focusing on both hematologic and solid tumors.
“It is a collective vision to maximize the speed and breadth of multigenic innovation for patients through the use of nimble, non-viral DNA cell manufacturing strategies that can further overcome viral packaging constraints and economic limitations,” Gregory Frost, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Head of Intrexon’s Health Sector explained in the press release. “Collectively, this will assemble the most advanced set of technologies to empower the strongest adoptive cell therapy pipeline that can drive innovation through numerous horizons and patient populations.”
CAR-T cells are innovative antibody cancer therapies engineered to mimic the functions of a T cell receptor. By recognizing intracellular protein fragments via the MHC-peptide elaborate, a fresh type of immunotherapy can be created, where these antibodies can efficiently inject a cancer cell and recognize cancer-associated proteins, mobilizing the immune system to climb on a deadly response against the cancer cell.