Adaptimmune has opened a pilot, open-label clinical trial in synovial sarcoma at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), testing its enhanced T cell receptor T cell therapy. A second site is planned to open later in 2011 at Washington University.
Adaptimmune is focused on the use of T cell therapy to treat cancer, with the T lymphocyte cell being used to target and destroy cancerous cells. The trial is designed to investigate the safety, anti-tumor effect, and bioactivity of infusion of patients’ own T cells that have been genetically modified to express a high affinity T cell receptor (TCR) specific for a type of tumor antigen (protein) known as a cancer testis antigen (CT antigen).
During the trial, an enhanced T cell receptor will be deployed to target a CT antigen called NYESO-1. T cell manufacturing will be performed at the Clinical Cell and Vaccine Production Facility at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
Up to 10 patients will be enrolled in the trial, which may take up to three years to accrue due to the rare nature of the cancer. In addition to evaluating safety, the primary objective of the study is to determine the response rate to the therapy. Secondary endpoints are to investigate the persistence of the genetically modified cells and to perform analyses of the anti-tumor immune responses in patients.
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
