On March 30, 2022 Nextera AS, a drug and target discovery company built on the unique and novel NextCore protein engineering and discovery platform, reported a strategic collaboration with Zelluna Immunotherapy AS on optimizing T cell receptors (TCRs) for subsequent implementation into the "off-the-shelf" TCR based Natural Killer (TCR-NK) cell approach of Zelluna Immunotherapy AS for the treatment of cancer (Press release, Nextera, MAR 30, 2022, View Source [SID1234611188]).
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Nextera’s aim is to engage into strategic commercial partnerships focused on the huge unmet medical demand in autoimmunity and immuno-oncology by leveraging its NextCore platform. This partnership represents the first collaboration on engineering TCRs, which will complement the company’s focus on TCR-Like antibodies and HLA peptidome target deconvolution.
TCR-NK products are a novel and proprietary class of allogeneic cellular therapies that combine the inherent pan cancer killing mechanism, efficiency, and the allogeneic nature of NK cells with the targeting capabilities of TCRs. Arming NK cells with TCRs may unlock the potential to treat a wide range of currently untreatable cancers.
"We are delighted to engage into this collaboration with Zelluna, which is pioneering the TCR-NK field with its innovative and proprietary allogenic "off-the-shelf" approach. Engineered TCR therapy has very recently entered the mature clinical pipeline and further expansion of this field has the outlook to make a transformational difference for patients across multiple cancer indications. Our differentiated NextCore platform is uniquely well situated to harness the new generation of TCR targeting modules in these approaches to maximize efficacy and safety" said Dr. Geir Åge Løset, co-founder and CEO/CSO of Nextera.