Anocca and Shinobi Partner on Allogeneic TCR-T Cell Therapies for Cancer

SÖDERTÄLJE, Sweden, SAN FRANCISCO, and KYOTO, Japan, May 30, 2024 – Anocca AB, a pioneering company in T-cell receptor-engineered T-cell (TCR-T) therapeutics, has entered a strategic collaboration with Shinobi Therapeutics. The partnership aims to harness Shinobi’s immune-evasive induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived CD8 αβT-cell platform alongside Anocca’s novel T-cell receptor (TCR) discoveries. This union aspires to create a novel category of off-the-shelf, allogeneic TCR-engineered iPS-T-cell therapies (TCR-iPS-T) designed to combat solid tumors.

Reagan Jarvis, CEO and co-founder of Anocca, remarked, “Our proprietary technology has enabled us to systematically identify cancer targets and develop a library of potent and specific TCRs to offer personalized TCR-T treatments. As we prepare to introduce our first gene-edited autologous TCR-T product into clinical trials, our partnership with Shinobi is a critical step forward. Shinobi’s Katana platform could potentially provide treatment options for a wider range of cancer patients when paired with Anocca’s ability to identify untapped TCR-T targets.”

Dan Kemp, CEO of Shinobi Therapeutics, added, “The synergy between Shinobi’s immune-evasive iPS-T cell platform and Anocca’s premier TCR discovery capability will expedite our goal of developing a comprehensive pipeline of TCR and CAR-targeted off-the-shelf T-cell therapies. This collaboration signifies the ideal alignment of our technologies to achieve our shared objective of making transformative TCR-iPS-T cell therapies globally accessible to cancer patients.”

Shinobi’s Katana technology facilitates the efficient integration of antigen-targeting TCR and/or CAR constructs into its immune-evasive iPS-T cells in a modular manner. Meanwhile, Anocca has crafted a unique discovery platform using programmable human cells to replicate and manipulate T-cell immunity, generating libraries of highly specific TCR candidates targeted at treating solid cancers.

Together, Shinobi and Anocca will focus on engineering TCR in CD8 αβiPS-T-cells against validated cancer targets, aiming to deliver pre-clinical proof of concept. A successful collaboration will set the stage for developing novel off-the-shelf treatments for solid tumors, potentially benefiting a broad patient population.

Shinobi Therapeutics, based on the research of scientific co-founders Shin Kaneko of Kyoto University and Tobias Deuse of the University of California, San Francisco, has developed a new allogeneic CD8 αβiPS-T-cell platform. This platform demonstrates comprehensive immune evasion from all immune system arms, thereby representing a significant advancement in cell therapy.

Anocca, on the other hand, has established itself as a leader in developing TCR-T therapies for solid tumors. Their proprietary technologies aim to expand TCR-T development, enabling systematic treatment generation for broad patient populations. Anocca’s advanced research and development infrastructure, supported by their custom software ecosystem AnoccaOS and in-house clinical manufacturing, facilitates their unique discovery processes.

In the realm of cell therapy, autologous methods use the patient’s own immune cells, which are engineered and reintroduced into the patient, avoiding immune rejection. However, this approach limits the patient pool due to reliance on the patient's cells. Alternatively, allogeneic cell therapy, involving iPS cell-derived immune cells, allows for scalable production of off-the-shelf immune cells. One significant hurdle for allogeneic approaches is allo-rejection, where the patient’s immune system identifies and rejects donor-derived cells as foreign.

This collaboration between Anocca AB and Shinobi Therapeutics marks a significant stride in the development of innovative cancer therapies, leveraging cutting-edge technologies to offer new hope for patients battling solid tumors.

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