– Membrane bound IL-15 (mbIL15) improves anti-tumor effect of TCR-modified T cells –
– T cells expressing T-cell receptor (TCR) and mbIL15 can be infused day after gene transfer –
BOSTON, MA, USA I December 08, 2019 IZiopharm Oncology, Inc. (“Ziopharm” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq:ZIOP), today announced the presentation of pre-clinical data of Rapid Personalized Manufacture (RPM), in the “Adoptive Immunotherapy: Mechanisms and New Approaches” session at the 2019 American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in Orlando.
“These pre-clinical data demonstrate that T cells genetically modified using DNA plasmids from the Sleeping Beauty system to express TCR with membrane bound IL-15 (mbIL15) exhibit anti-tumor effects,” said Drew Deniger, Ph.D., leader of Ziopharm’s TCR program. “These data build on our approach to reduce the cost and complexity of T-cell therapies. We have previously demonstrated that mbIL15 can be combined with a CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to shorten the time to generate clinical-grade T cells and an IND is cleared to evaluate this RPM technology.”
Data were presented today in the poster presentation “Rapid Personalized Manufacture (RPM) of Sleeping Beauty System-generated NY-ESO-1-specific TCR-T Cells Co-Expressing Membrane-bound IL-15 Yields Antitumor Responses” and demonstrated:
- T cells can be genetically modified with the Sleeping Beauty system to express TCR and mbIL15;
- T cells expressing TCR and mbIL15 exhibited superior anti-tumor effects compared with TCR-modified T cells without mbIL15;
- T cells expressing TCR and mbIL15 are infused the day after gene transfer per RPM;
- Low-dose of T cells genetically modified per RPM to express TCR and mbIL15 exhibit anti-tumor effects;
- T cells expressing TCR and mbIL15 persist in mouse model.
This proof-of-concept study, reported today at ASH, targets a well-understood antigen (NY-ESO-1) which supports using DNA plasmids from the Sleeping Beauty platform to express TCRs with mbIL15 to improve the manufacture of T cells with specificity for neoantigens. The Company announced in October 2019 a new research and development agreement with MD Anderson Cancer Center relating to Ziopharm’s Sleeping Beauty immunotherapy program to use non-viral gene transfer to stably express and clinically evaluate neoantigen-specific TCRs in T cells. This agreement, along with the license of TCRs targeting neoantigens in three hotspots from the National Cancer Institute in May 2019, provide the Company with a platform to launch clinical trials utilizing TCRs from the library specific for hotspot mutations and personalized TCRs targeting patient-specific neoantigens.
Learn more about the Sleeping Beauty system online at https://ziopharm.com/t-cell-therapy/tcrs-for-solid-tumors/. The poster presented at the ASH 2019 Annual Meeting will be available on the Company’s website in the “Scientific and Medical Publications” section.
About Ziopharm Oncology, Inc.
Ziopharm Oncology is an immuno-oncology company focused on developing end-to-end cost-effective solutions using its non-viral Sleeping Beauty platform for TCR and CAR T-cell therapies and immune-stimulating gene therapy with Controlled interleukin 12 (IL-12). The Sleeping Beauty platform genetically modifies T cells with DNA plasmids to express TCRs to target neoantigens inside and outside hotspots for solid tumors and CAR to target CD19 for blood cancers using the Company’s RPM to produce and release CAR-T as soon as the day after gene transfer. The Sleeping Beauty platform is being advanced in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Eden BioCell. The Company is also developing its Controlled IL-12 platform, or Ad-RTS-hIL-12 plus veledimex, as monotherapy and in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors to treat brain cancer, including in collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
SOURCE: ZIOPHARM Oncology
