CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA I May 17, 2018 I Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA), a leading genome editing company focused on developing curative therapeutics using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, and its research collaborator, Ospedale San Raffaele (OSR), presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) the first update on their joint discovery and development efforts of Wilms’ Tumor 1 (WT1)-specific transgenic T cells. In conjunction with this presentation, Intellia announced that its first cell therapy target is WT1 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia and other potential hematological malignancies, as well as for solid tumors.

“As Intellia expands its wholly owned T cell therapy ex vivo efforts, we are pleased to present our first set of data in this cell therapy area,” said Intellia President and Chief Executive Officer John Leonard, M.D. “WT1 is over-expressed in many tumor types, including both leukemias and solid tumors, and is an ideal target for immuno-oncological therapies seeking to treat these malignancies. This early data being presented is part of Intellia’s broader strategy to develop next-generation solutions for immuno-oncology and autoimmune disorders, with novel, modular platforms based on genome editing.”

Intellia and OSR are collaborating to develop best-in-class CRISPR-edited T cells directed to WT1, a tumor-associated antigen expressed across a wide range of different tumor types and a known driver of leukocyte blasts in hematological cancers. At this year’s ASGCT Annual Meeting, OSR researchers, led by Chiara Bonini, M.D., Ph.D., shared findings showing the generation, characterization and advancement of WT1-specific, transgenic T cells against multiple WT1 epitopes presented on HLA-A*02:01 and other Class I alleles. Initial data demonstrating both recognition and killing of acute myeloid leukemia cells also was presented.

OSR researchers and Intellia presented the poster, entitled “Hunting WT1-Specific T Cell Receptors for TCR Gene Editing for Acute Myeloid Leukemia.” The abstract is available on the ASGCT website here

“Our collaboration with Intellia represents our shared belief that the characteristics of T cell receptors as a targeting moiety may be an excellent approach to broadening the field of oncology cell therapy, opening the door to many more potential antigen targets in liquid and solid tumors,” added Bonini, full professor at Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele; deputy director, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases; and head, Experimental Hematology Unit, Ospedale San Raffaele, Italy

This ex vivo research effort is part of an integrated strategy to develop CRISPR-edited T cell therapies to address hard-to-treat cancers and overcome certain limitations of current-generation cell therapies, including widely reported immune cell suppression in tumor microenvironments.

About Intellia Therapeutics

Intellia Therapeutics is a leading genome editing company focused on developing proprietary, curative therapeutics using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Intellia believes the CRISPR/Cas9 technology has the potential to transform medicine by permanently editing disease-associated genes in the human body with a single treatment course, and through optimized cell therapies that can treat cancer and immunological diseases by replacing patients’ diseased cells. The combination of deep scientific, technical and clinical development experience, along with its leading intellectual property portfolio, puts Intellia in a unique position to unlock broad therapeutic applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology and create a new class of therapeutic products. Learn more about Intellia Therapeutics and CRISPR/Cas9 at intelliatx.com and follow us on Twitter @intelliatweets

About Ospedale San Raffael

Ospedale San Raffaele is a university and research hospital established in 1971 to provide international-level specialised care for the most complex and difficult health conditions. Since 2012, it has been part of Gruppo ospedaliero San Donato, the leading hospital group in Italy. San Raffaele is a multi-speciality center with over 50 clinical specialties and over 1,300 beds. Research focuses on integrating basic, translational and clinical activities to provide the most advanced care to its patients. For further information, visit hsr.it.

SOURCE: Intellia Therapeutics