Medigene partners with Swiss university to characterize T cell receptors

Under the deal, Medigene will get access to the NTAmer technology that has been developed by TCMetrix, a spin-off firm of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Lausanne. Scientists at the University of Lausanne further developed the technology.

As part of the collaboration, scientists at the university’s department of oncology will undertake kinetic dissociation analyses on human T cells that express Medigene’s TCR candidates using the NTAmer technology.

The company said the technology measures cell-surface monomeric TCR-peptide-MHC dissociation rates of TCR candidates, which will enable it to chose tumour-specific T cells with an optimal functional avidity for several types of cancer cells.

Medigene CSO and designated CEO Dolores Schendel said: "The NTAmer technology supports us to gain additional information about the structural avidity of TCRs by using direct assessment of living T cells.

"This will help us to select TCRs with optimal target antigen sensitivity for inclusion in our TCR library that is developed in order to treat patients with different MHC backgrounds and various types of cancer."

Medigene intends to develop around 10 lead candidates for the TCR technology in the next years. The company plans to start about three clinical TCR trials, the first to be started this year subject to grant funding.

The trials, sponsored by Medigene, are planned to commence in the second half of 2017 and in the second half of 2018.

Germany-based Medigene is developing complementary treatment platforms to target several types and stages of cancer with candidates in clinical and pre-clinical development.

The company concentrates on the development of personalized T cell-based immunotherapies.