The T cell antigen coupler (TAC) is a novel, proprietary chimeric receptor that facilitates the redirection of T cells to tumor cells, and activates T cells by co-opting the endogenous T cell receptor complex with the goal to elicit safe and durable anti-tumor responses. TAC01-HER2, a rst-in-class, autologous TAC T cell product targeting HER2 (ERBB2), has entered a phase I/II clinical trial in patients with HER2-positive solid tumors. Here, we describe the development of an allogeneic HER2-TAC T cell product based on Vγ9Vδ2 (γδ) T cells which belong to a subset of T cells that recognize target cells in a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) independent manner. Thus, γδ T cells do not cause GvHD and have the potential for allogeneic cell therapy applications.
Cell therapies are revolutionizing the way cancers are treated, but existing cell therapies have their limits. They have been more successful at treating hematologic tumors than solid tumors, and they can sometimes cause serious side effects, such as the destruction of antibodies or what’s known as cytokine storms in which the immune system gets over-revved and attacks healthy cells. Triumvira Immunologics is developing autologous and allogeneic T-Cell therapies that it believes can address the limitations of existing cell therapies and be used to treat both liquid and solid tumors.
We spoke to Paul Lammers, CEO of Triumvira, about the company’s platform technology, why it’s robust and versatile, and why its lead indication is for cancer where effective treatments already exist.
For episode 25, we sit down with Dr. Paul Lammers, CEO of Triumvira Immunologics. Stay tuned to learn why having multiple programs in clinical trials can provide a safety net should one program fail and how it adds additional value for investors. First In Human is a biotech-focused podcast that interviews industry leaders and investors to learn about their journey to in-human clinical trials.
Presented by Vial, a tech-enabled CRO, hosted by Simon Burns, CEO & Co-Founder & guest host Co-Founder, Andrew Brackin.
In this Health Professional Radio interview – Learn how Triumvira Immunologics is developing novel T-Cell therapies to treat cancer patients. Discover how their autologous and allogeneic targeted therapeutics co-opt the natural biology of T cells.
Join us for the third session in Lumanity’s New Cancer Progress Webinar series, “On the Backside of the Hype Cycle: Cancer Cell Therapy Companies Grappling With Lofty Expectations and Challenging Market Conditions,” on April 26th at 1:00pm ET moderated by Joel Sandler, Ph.D..
Hear from Mike DeRidder, Ajla Hrle, Michael Kalos, and Paul Lammers as they discuss implications and strategic considerations for companies grappling with skepticism from partners, investors, clinical/regulatory, and commercial perspectives.
In this episode, we talk with our panel about updates their company gave at the recent JP Morgan Healthcare Conference that took place earlier this year. This once-yearly conference is the epicenter for biotech deal-making and groundbreaking data releases.
Dr. Robert Ross is the Chief Executive Officer of Surface Oncology. Surface Oncology’s mission is to deliver transformative outcomes for people with cancer by breaking through the frontiers of immuno-oncology research. Before becoming CEO, Rob served as Chief Medical Officer at Surface. Prior to joining Surface, he led several programs in hematology and oncology at Bluebird Bio, including the anti-BCMA CAR T cell therapy program. Rob received his MD from Columbia University and has received extensive training in hematology and oncology at top institutions including the University of California San Francisco, Dana Farber, and Mass General Hospital.
Dr. Paul Lammers is the Chief Executive Officer of Triumvira Immunologics. Triumvira is leveraging its proprietary T-cell antigen coupling technology to enhance engineered cell therapy to target solid tumors. Paul has a rich background in biotech management, having served as President & CEO at Mirna Therapeutics and Chief Medical Officer and Head of US Product Development for EMD Serono. Paul received his MD from Radboud University in the Netherlands.
AUSTIN, Texas & SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. & HAMILTON, Ontario–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Triumvira Immunologics (“Triumvira”), a clinical-stage company developing novel, targeted autologous and allogeneic T cell therapeutics that co-opt the natural biology of T cells to treat patients with solid tumors, today announced that the Company will be presenting preclinical and clinical data on its lead asset TAC01-HER2 for the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive solid tumors at the 2023 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting taking place in Orlando, April 14-19. The presentations will include updated clinical data and product characterization from the ongoing Phase I/II trial of autologous TAC01-HER2 (NCT04727151) in patients with solid tumors and preclinical data on an allogeneic HER2-TAC T cell product.
“We are pleased to present additional validation of our lead clinical program TAC01-HER2, currently in Phase I/II trials, supporting the efficiency of our proprietary Cocoon® platform to manufacture potent autologous TAC01-HER2 cells using leukocytes from cancer patients,” said Deyaa Adib, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Triumvira Immunologics. “Interim results will also be presented from our ongoing Phase I/II trial investigating the safety and efficacy of autologous TAC01-HER2 in HER2+ refractory solid tumors demonstrating a favorable safety profile and promising clinical activity as evident by reduction of measurable disease and prevention of fast cancer progression in the majority of patients enrolled in the Phase I trial. Further, we will present new preclinical data from our allogeneic T cell-based products in development demonstrating their potential to avoid graft versus host disease.”
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) will leave early-stage biotechnology companies with a funding void, investors and analysts said on Monday, but larger, publicly-traded drug companies should escape unscathed.
About 50% of U.S. biotech companies, developing drugs for everything from cancer to heart disease and rare conditions, banked with Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), including a large number of private firms, according to WBB financial analyst and managing partner Steve Brozak.
Dr. Paul Lammers, the Chief Executive Officer at Triumvira Immunologics, is developing personalized medicine to treat solid tumors using an autologous approach to arm the patient-derived cells with a vector that identifies and kills individual cancer cells. At the forefront of the next generation of immune-oncology, Triumvira uses the Cocoon Platform made by Lonza to automate this process in a closed system to grow and harvest the cells. The ultimate goal is to have this technology available at the point of care in regional cancer centers to allow this cell therapy to be used by more cancer patients.
Paul elaborates, “The challenge with T cell therapy has been can we also use cell therapy to treat solid tumors? And that’s where we feel that with our technology, known as TAC, T Cell Antigen Coupler comes in. We truly think we have an opportunity here, so we feel we are developing first-in-class medications based on that new T cell engineer platform, the TAC. We hope to have an opportunity to focus on different types of targets in solid tumors that will address high unmet needs in cancers like gastric cancer and colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer, and ovarian and endometrial.”
While many cell therapy developers are embracing every change they can engineer to optimize their CAR constructs, the messaging from Triumvira Immunologics is to keep it simple. By combining the best features of CAR-T and TCR therapies, it’s hoping to create a cell therapy to competitively take on both liquid and solid tumors.
Avoiding drawbacks of CARs: Triumvira aims to take TCRs to the next level with its T cell Antigen Coupler (TAC), harnessing endogenous TCR activity with CAR-like activation.
The construct co-opts the native TCR, while also enabling activation through its own engineered antigen binding and co-receptor domains. This allows the TAC to activate or silence the T-cell, without the use of gene editing.
