PRESS RELEASE: Carina Biotech will present “very promising” data on a potential CAR-T cell therapeutic for colorectal cancer.
Carina Biotech will present “very promising” data on a potential CAR-T cell therapeutic for colorectal cancer.
Carina Biotech scientist Dr Veronika Bandara will present data tomorrow at the Eradicate Cancer Conference on the Adelaide-based CAR-T cell company’s latest CAR-T cab off the rank, which has demonstrated significant killing of two colorectal cancer cell lines in vitro and also complete tumour elimination in a pre-clinical colorectal cancer model.
The CAR-T cell was also shown to be highly cytotoxic against two neuroblastoma cell lines.
These cancer-busting CAR-T cells are targeted at LGR5 (leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5). LGR5 is a cancer stem cell marker that is abundant in solid tumours and particularly highly expressed in colorectal cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer.
Dr Bandara said: “We designed and built six different CAR constructs based on an anti-LGR5 antibody. Four of the constructs showed fantastic cytotoxic activity against the LoVo and LIM1215 colorectal cancer cell lines in vitro. The same constructs were highly cytotoxic against the two neuroblastoma cell lines SHY-5Y-SY and BE-2-ME.”
Carina Biotech’s CEO, Dr Deborah Rathjen said: “The data to be presented by Dr Bandara this week is very promising, and suggests that this CAR-T cell is a potential therapeutic for colorectal cancer. The benefit of targeting a cancer stem cell marker is that we can get to the core of some cancers, in this case cancers expressing LGR5. We often see patients, for example with colorectal cancer, go into remission after first-line treatment only for their cancer to return, we think, due to the fact that the cancer stem cells are somehow resistant to traditional anti-cancer therapies.”
Dr Bandara said: “The next steps will be to further validate the LGR5 CAR-T cells in multiple pre-clinical animal models and against patient-derived tumour samples. We will also confirm safety of the LGR5 CAR-T cell by testing against normal tissues and by undertaking other safety evaluations. We will also work towards a TGA-approved manufacturing protocol to produce CAR-T cells for first-in-human clinical trials.”
This is Carina’s latest CAR-T cell candidate in a growing pipeline, underpinned by its proprietary platform that produces “supercharged” CAR-T cells.
CAR-T cell therapy is a revolutionary new treatment option for cancer that harnesses the power of the immune system. CAR-T cells (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells) are immune cells (T cells) that have been genetically modified to target certain molecular markers found on cancer cells.
The research is being conducted in conjunction with a $750,000 grant from the Government of South Australia’s Research, Commercialisation and Startup Fund (RSCF). www.innovationandskills.sa.gov.au/rcsf
About Carina Biotech
Carina Biotech is an Australian pre-clinical immunotherapy company established to research and develop chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapies to treat solid cancers. Carina is working towards producing CAR-T and other adoptive cell therapies that can be used to treat solid cancers, are patient-specific and result in little, if any, off-cancer damage. Using its proprietary platforms, Carina is also developing technologies to improve access to, and infiltration of, solid cancers, and to enhance CAR-T cell manufacturing.
