• Novel miCAR gene constructs demonstrate high gene silencing efficiencies with simultaneous CAR expression to create allogeneic CAR T-cells
  • Anti-CD19 miCAR T-cells show efficient silencing of two key inhibitory receptors required for effective allogeneic B-cell lymphoma therapy

GENEVA, Switzerland I May 12, 2021 I Antion Biosciences (‘Antion’ or ‘the Company’), a Swiss cell and gene engineering company developing highly innovative allogeneic therapies to cure diseases with significant unmet medical need, today announced additional positive data on its development-stage allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T cell) therapies created using its novel miCAR™ (‘miCAR’) platform, at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Meeting, taking place 11-14 May.

Antion presented data from two independent pre-clinical studies in two posters which provide evidence for the use of their proprietary miCAR construct in the development of next-generation allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies. Together, these two posters demonstrate Antion’s multiplex cell engineering capabilities, including the expression of a CAR with the simultaneous modulated silencing of three relevant genes in the creation of a new optimised allogeneic therapy (see below for further details).

Dr. Sven Kili, CEO of Antion Biosciences commented: “I’m excited to be sharing these data which demonstrate proof of principle for our ground-breaking novel bimodal miCAR gene construct. The next-generation allogeneic CD19 CAR-T cells we developed using our novel miCAR gene construct, demonstrated simultaneous CAR expression and efficient gene silencing of clinically relevant receptors. Our miCAR construct also offers efficient multiplex cell engineering in a single step which will be critical in overcoming the challenges faced by existing gene editing approaches. With these proof of principle studies, Antion’s miCAR T-cells demonstrate their potential as a promising immunotherapeutic solution for a number of disease indications. Furthermore, we believe the miCAR platform offers a simpler, more effective and more efficient route to allogeneic therapies.”

Poster 1: Abstract #642 – Development of Anti-CD19 Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cells with Immune Checkpoint Silencing
Anti-CD19 CAR-T cells were designed with simultaneous silencing of PD1 and TIM3, inhibitory receptors known to be relevant in the context of relapsed/refractory diffuse B-cell lymphoma. These miCAR-T cells were transduced to express a CAR with simultaneous silencing of both PD1 and TIM3. The data demonstrates the efficient single-step creation of next-generation anti-CD19 CAR-T cells via Antion’s novel miCAR gene constructs to achieve simultaneous CAR expression and gene silencing of relevant inhibitory receptors. This laid the groundwork for the development of a fully allogeneic CAR-T cell used in the second study.

Poster 2: Abstract # 391 – A Novel Bimodal Gene Construct for Multiplex Cell Engineering and the Development of Allogeneic Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cells
The second study was conducted to demonstrate the potential of Antion’s anti-CD19 CAR-T cells as an effective allogeneic treatment option. In this study, miCAR constucts were delivered to primary T-cells to assess gene silencing while maintaining killing efficiency. The data showed complete gene silencing of the T-cell receptor (TCR) and an intended 75-95% silencing against the inhibitory receptors PD1 and HLA class I molecules, while still maintaining effective recognition and killing capabilities. The variable silencing of these molecules prevents a host immune response which is essential for effective, safe allogeneic therapies. These data therefore demonstrate Antion’s ability to ‘tune’ it’s silencing constructs and further demonstrates the flexibility of the miCAR platform to create persisting allogeneic immune effector cells with high killing efficiencies.

Both digital poster presentations are now available to watch by ASGCT attendees on the ASGCT website: https://annualmeeting.asgct.org/. The posters will also be available after the event on the Antion website: https://antion.ch/#/media.

About Antion Biosciences

Antion Biosciences SA is a Swiss cell and gene engineering company developing highly innovative allogeneic therapies to cure diseases with significant unmet medical needs through ground-breaking cell engineering. Antion’s proprietary Therapeutic Minigene (TMG) and miCAR™ technologies allow efficient, simultaneous multi-gene silencing and gene addition in a single step enabling the creation of multimodal treatments that have the ability to substantially enhance clinical safety and efficacy. These technologies are developed using a unique Smart Data approach to construct design and optimization, ensuring maximum efficiency. Antion’s pipeline is focused on curing challenging cancer indications, HIV and sensory disorders with simple, easy to administer cell therapies. Antion has a world-class leadership team and advisors and was founded in 2016 by internationally recognized scientists and clinicians.

For more information please visit: https://antion.ch/#/

SOURCE: Antion Biosciences