First person to receive cancer drug from Repertoire

(CONNECT) Repertoire Immune Medicines has started clinical testing of its T-cell-targeted immunotherapeutic in humans. The biotech company, which is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and located in the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland, has announced that the first study participant has been treated with a novel therapy from Repertoire in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial. The study is being conducted at several clinical centers in the USA and Europe.

The T-cell receptor (TCR)-specific therapy with the study name RPTR-1-201 is directed against advanced solid tumors. It is designed to direct the body's own T cells of a diseased person towards a common, tumor-specific target. T-cell-specific therapies have shown that they can achieve profound and sustained remissions in some types of cancer, says Repertoire's Medical Director Robert Andtbacke: "Nevertheless, many patients with advanced solid tumors still have limited treatment options."

In preclinical studies, RPTR-1-201 reportedly showed strong efficacy against both immunologically hot and cold tumors and a favorable safety profile. In contrast to many other T cell-targeted therapies that focus on known antigens specific to a single tumor type, the new drug binds to a molecular segment (epitope) discovered using Repertoire's DECODE platform.

"This epitope," explains Repertoire, "is present in various solid tumors and could be relevant for up to 200,000 patients with metastatic or inoperable cancer each year in the USA and Europe." For Dr. Anthony J. Coyle, Head of Research and Development, this compound is so significant because it represents "the first confirmation of our ability to convert immune codes into potential immunotherapeutics against cancer". ce/mm