Medigene and BioNTech Extend Their Global Research and Collaboration Agreement Beyond the Initially Announced Term
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Medigene AG and BioNTech SE have announced the extension of their collaboration beyond the initial three-year term outlined in February 2022. This extension reflects their commitment to advancing T cell receptor (TCR) immunotherapies against cancer, aiming to generate novel TCRs directed against multiple newly nominated antigen targets, thus expanding BioNTech's TCR candidates.
Medigene, expressed his enthusiasm about the extended partnership, stating, “We are delighted about the extension of our partnership with BioNTech to develop highly differentiated TCR-based therapies for patients with solid tumors. The collaboration underscores our leadership in TCR generation as we continue to deliver promising TCR candidates.”
The collaboration, initiated in February 2022, involves a global multi-target effort to discover and develop T cell receptor immunotherapies against various cancer targets, including PRAME (PReferentially expressed Antigen in MElanoma). Additionally, the agreement includes non-exclusive licenses to proprietary technologies within Medigene’s End-to-End Platform, including its PD1-41BB costimulatory switch protein.
Medigene’s PD1-41BB Costimulatory Switch Protein enhances checkpoint inhibition via the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and utilizes the 4-1BB (CD137) costimulatory signaling pathway to augment T cell immune responses. The PD1-41BB switch receptor counteracts tumor immune evasion by substituting the inhibitory signaling domain of PD-1 with the activating signaling domain of 4-1BB. This modification enables TCR-T cells to function effectively against PD-L1-positive tumor cells, proliferate strongly, and exhibit enhanced tumor cell killing capacity, even in hostile tumor microenvironments characterized by low glucose or high TGFß levels.
PRAME, a tumor antigen overexpressed in various solid and blood cancers, is a target of interest due to its limited expression in healthy tissue, primarily restricted to the testis, making it suitable for TCR-T therapies.
Actual results achieved may differ significantly from these statements. Medigene is not obligated to update any forward-looking statements. Medigene® is a registered trademark of Medigene AG, owned or licensed in select locations only.
Source: globenewswire.com
