Immuno-oncology research collaboration with TCR2 Therapeutics

03-Jan-2017 - Germany

University Hospital of Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Germany announced today a multi-year research collaboration with TCR2 Therapeutics Inc., an immuno-oncology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Founder of TCR2 is Patrick Baeuerle, PhD, an internationally renowned tumor immunologist.

TCR2 develops novel cancer therapies that unleash the full signaling power of complete T cell receptors (TCR). To this end, TCR2 has developed a proprietary TCR fusion construct (TRuC™) platform which can reprogram the natural TCR complex to recognize specific tumor antigens and thereby elicit rapid killing of cancer cells. TCR2 and LMU have now joined forces to broaden the applications of the TRuC™ technology platform by leveraging their complementary expertise in T cell biology and T cell engagement.

The collaboration will be a close partnership between TCR2 and Stefan Endres MD, Professor of Medicine and Research Dean of the Medical Faculty, and Program Leader Sebastian Kobold, MD, both at the Division of Clinical Pharmacology. Drs. Endres and Kobold are clinicians and experienced cancer immunologists with a research focus on understanding the cross-talk between tumor and immune cells and leveraging these insights to create innovative approaches to enhance the anti-tumor immune response. They have developed a novel class of T-cell activating receptors which will be tested in combination with TCR2’s TRuC™ technology. The aim is to improve efficacy in solid tumor indications where other cell-based immunotherapies have seen limited success.

“We are excited to apply our mechanistic understanding of T cell biology to TCR2’s unique technology platform in order to enhance the T cells’ ability to fight tumor cells,” said Dr. Stefan Endres. “Together with the impressive scientific team at TCR2, we are in a strong position to discover and validate therapeutic approaches that could address the unmet needs of existing and future T cell-based therapies.”

“We are looking forward to a very productive partnership with Drs. Endres and Kobold who have developed creative concepts for more effective T cell therapies,” said Dr. Robert Hofmeister, Chief Scientific Officer of TCR2. “We see a particular need for improving T cell therapies when it comes to the treatment of patients suffering from solid tumors. T cells reprogrammed by our TRuC™ technology and the use of activating receptors may get us to therapies that are efficacious in a wider range of cancers.”

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/161194/immuno-oncology-research-collaboration-with-tcr2-therapeutics.html