NEW YORK, June 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Incysus Therapeutics, Inc. (“Incysus”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on delivering an innovative gamma-delta (γδ) T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers, today announced that the first patient in a Phase 1 clinical study titled, “Novel Gamma-Delta (γδ) T Cell Therapy for Treatment of Patients With Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma” has been treated at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Solid tumor cancers have often been intractable and difficult to successfully treat. High grade brain tumors such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), in particular, have been impervious to conventional therapies with recurrence appearing generally within a year of resection and chemoradiotherapy. Incysus’ innovative DRI approach leverages conventional chemotherapy to modify the tumor microenvironment and activate immunity through the upregulation of the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway while simultaneously delivering a large number of a type antitumor white blood cells (γδ T cells) directly to the tumor site.
Previous to the advent of DRI, it has been challenging to deliver functional immune cells during this heightened state of vulnerability as chemotherapies can also kill the white blood cells needed to drive an immune response. Incysus’ DRI technology ‘chemo-protects’ immune cells, allowing them to survive and remain functional throughout the time the chemotherapy induces DDR activation which in turn creates the immune signal that allows directed killing activity against the cancer cells.
γδ T cells are a type white blood cell that is known to help the immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells while conserving normal healthy tissue. Incysus’ DRI technology is the first clinical program to have successfully genetically modified γδ T cells. This Phase I trial will study Incysus’ DRI technology in patients with newly diagnosed GBM during the maintenance phase of standard temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy. Further information about this clinical trial can be found here (NCT04165941).
“The advancement of this exciting program during this difficult time is due to the expertise and continued execution by a team of clinicians, scientists and others at both the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB and Incysus. Our team is committed to developing therapeutic options for patients suffering from aggressive cancers that lack effective therapies,” commented William Ho co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Incysus. “We are excited to be treating patients in this trial and continuing to move the study forward.”
L. Burt Nabors, MD, the co-head of neuro-oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the study’s principal investigator commented, “Bringing the DRI technology into human testing is an exciting milestone in the pursuit of novel treatments for patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma.”
About Incysus Therapeutics, Inc.
Incysus is focused on delivering a novel off-the-shelf cell therapy for the treatment of cancer. By using genetically modified gamma-delta (γδ) T cells, the Company’s technology addresses the challenges that immunotherapies face targeting cold, low mutation cancers. Incysus’ immuno-oncology programs include activated and gene-modified adoptive cellular therapies that protect cells from chemotherapy and allow novel combinations to disrupt the tumor microenvironment and more selectively target cancer cells. The Company’s first clinical program is targeted to leukemia and lymphoma and its second program is targeted for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM). Information about the Company’s clinical trial in GBM can be found here (NCT04165941) and for leukemia can be found here (NCT03533816). For more information about the Company and its programs, visit www.incysus.com.
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Contact:
Incysus Therapeutics, Inc.
William Ho, President & CEO
who@incysus.com
+1 646.600.6GDT
info@incysus.com
www.incysus.com