Cell therapy offers oncologists a powerful tool to fight cancer, but these therapies made from engineered immune cells still have limitations. On the one hand, their capacity in blood cancers is insufficient in solid tumors. Relatedly, there is still room for improvement in the efficacy and durability of these therapies. Affini-T Therapeutics is designing cell therapies aimed at overcoming these barriers, and the biotech startup now has $175 million to bolster its work.
This financing The announcement on Tuesday was co-led by Vida Ventures and Leaps by Bayer.
Headquartered in Boston, with a research laboratory in Seattle, Affini-T uses two types of T cells, CD4 and CD8, for cell therapy. These immune cells are engineered with T cell receptors (TCRs), which are receptors that recognize and bind cancer cell targets. Affini-T says its technology discovers TCRs that bind to cancer targets with high affinity while triggering a robust immune response. Affini-T takes it a step further, using synthetic biology to engineer “switch receptors” that convert immunosuppressive signals from tumors into stimulatory signals. This is key because the tumor microenvironment, the complex ecosystem of cancer cells, is full of mechanisms that suppress immune responses. Affini-T believes its cell therapy provides a coordinated and durable immune response in this harsh environment.
The science that underlies the Affini-T approach stems from research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, where science co-founder Phil Greenberg leads the center’s immunology program. Affini-T’s research on genetic drivers of cancer initially focused on KRAS mutations, a known driver of many types of cancer but difficult to treat with drugs. KRAS is part of a family of genes encoding proteins involved in cell signaling that regulate cell growth by turning it on or off. Mutated KRAS genes lead to unregulated cell growth that occurs in cancer.
“By targeting oncogenic drivers such as mutated KRAS, we are targeting mutations in the core genes that enable tumors to grow and spread,” Affini-T co-founder, president and CEO Jak Knowles said in a prepared statement. Our differentiated platform combines highly active TCRs with unique synthetic biology, allowing us to pioneer new therapeutic approaches aimed at eradicating solid tumors.”
Amgen’s first FDA-approved KRAS cancer drug last year. The antibody, marketed as Lumakras, targets the specific mutation KRAS G12C. The state-of-the-art Affini-T KRAS program targets different mutant KRAS G12V. A second Affini-T program for KRAS G12D is in the discovery phase. Another Affini-T project is in the discovery phase of p53, a tumor suppressor protein that has also hampered cancer drug hunters. In addition to developing therapies that address the genetic drivers of cancer, the company is also pursuing viral drivers.According to biotechnology websitewhich has entered the clinic as a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV), which causes a rare but aggressive type of skin cancer as well as other types of cancer.
Other participants disclosed in the Affini-T funding round include Humboldt Fund, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Catalio Capital Management, Agent Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Erasca Ventures, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The biotech company said the funding will allow it to accelerate the use of its platform technology and advance into the clinic through its programs addressing the genetic drivers of cancer. The company said the cash will also support its quest to license complementary technologies to strengthen its cell therapy platform.
Affini-T joins a growing field of biotechs, some of which are partnering with big companies to take a similar approach to finding better cancer cell therapies. TScan Therapeutics, which went on sale last year, with techniques for discovering TCR targets. Adaptimmune Therapeutics is developing off-the-shelf cell therapies designed with TCRs. last September, Roche’s Genentech unit commits $300 million to multi-drug partnership with Adaptimmune. And last month, BioNTech acquires a preclinical TCR program and licenses the biotech technology from Medigenewhich includes on-off receptor technology designed to overcome one way cancer cells evade T-cell activity.
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