OncoPep Strengthens Pipeline with Addition of Multi-Tumor Antigen Adoptive T Cell Therapy
Current TAP Partner
BOSTON – October 15, 2020 – OncoPep, Inc. today announced a licensing agreement with MANA Therapeutics for use of its EDIFY™ platform for the development of an autologous multitumor antigen adoptive T cell therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma and solid tumors, as an additional T cell focused immunotherapeutic for its product pipeline.
OncoPep is developing the adoptive T cell therapy as part of a licensing agreement with MANA Therapeutics. MANA’s EDIFY™ platform is specifically designed to train T cells to target multiple tumor associated antigens, harnessing the patient’s immune system for an approach that targets a broader set of antigens expressed by the tumor. In this collaboration, a patient’s T cells will be trained ex vivo with EDIFY™ to target the antigens, XBP1, CD138 and CS1, which are highly over-expressed in multiple myeloma and other solid tumors. OncoPep’s lead therapeutic cancer vaccine candidate, PVX-410, is also designed to train T cells to target XBP1, CD138 and CS1 and could potentially be used in combination with the adoptive T cell therapy. This new adoptive T cell therapy approach has the potential to provide more persistent and durable control over tumor cell growth and could prevent the progression of cancer and improve quality of life for patients with multiple myeloma.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) participated in the Series B financing round in August 2014 that resulted from a review of OncoPep’s application for funding from LLS’ Therapy Acceleration Program (TAP), which identifies therapies that have the potential to change the standard of care for patients with blood cancers. OncoPep’s lead cancer vaccine, PVX-410, is designed to target tumor antigens associated with multiple myeloma (MM), a cancer of the plasma cells, and was granted orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2013.