Biotech company Prescient Therapeutics has given investors a glimpse into the progress of its next-generation CAR-T platform, OmniCAR, with data to be presented at leading cell and gene therapy conference Meeting on the Mesa.

In an announcement made this morning, the Melbourne-based company revealed its OmniCAR platform continues to demonstrate several key attributes in early studies. 

These attributes include the treatment’s high-potency, dose-responsiveness of cancer killing activity, and the ability for clinicians to disarm and re-arm the cells used in treatment without hindering their effectiveness.

These are important milestones in the development of Prescient’s in-house OmniCAR programs, as well as in the development of the overall platform and demonstrating novel features relevant to potential partners and collaborators.

Dr Rebecca Lim, Prescient’s Director of Scientific Affairs, is encouraged by the result, noting: 

“Our most recent work conducted in collaboration with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre showed that OmniCAR-T cells begin antigen-directed killing of tumour cells in vitro as soon as they are armed,” she said.

“The team also showed that OmniCAR-T cells could be rearmed and continue to kill tumour cells without loss of cytotoxicity.” 

“Excitingly, we saw for the first time the real-time ‘switchability’ of the OmniCAR system where the tumour killing ability of the OmniCAR-T cells could be redirected towards a different antigen through the addition of a different binder.”

Dr Lim said the early wins were “extremely encouraging”, adding that she is excited for the next round of tests.

The results will be shared in detail with the industry’s most prominent companies at the Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa conference, based in Carlsbad, California, US.

Prescient Therapeutics CEO Steven Yatomi-Clarke said he is excited by the opportunity to share the company’s results with the industry’s leading businesses.

“It is very pleasing to see a large body of work accomplished successfully so quickly and is a credit to the Prescient team and the incredible collaborators at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre,” he added.

“Importantly, none of these tests have even been optimised, so we have yet to see the true limits of this technology. OmniCAR is proving to be a predictable and powerful system to work with.”

OmniCAR is a next-generation CAR-T platform that aims to overcome challenges that face traditional CAR-T therapies – which use genetically modified cells from a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer.

These challenges include poor dose-responsiveness (leading to unpredictable reactions in patients as the strength of their treatment is increased), an inability to redirect CAR-T cells to attack different tumours, and the need for multiple CAR-T infusions to adequately fight cancer. CEO Steven Yatomi-Clarke and Dr Rebecca Lim will be presenting a session next Tuesday at 11am (AEDT) where they will explain the OmniCAR platform and latest results in more detail. Please click here to register for the session.

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