Medigene AG: bluebird presents preclinical data of first TCR candidate from Medigene collaboration. Start clinical development 2020
Martinsried/Munich (pta/09.05.2019/12:51) -
- Selected TCR candidate targets the MAGE-A4 tumor antigen which is expressed on a variety of solid tumor types
- Preclinical data confirm high antigen sensitivity and strong recognition of tumor cell lines
- TCR candidate displays activity against solid tumors without need of a co-receptor
Medigene AG (FSE: MDG1, Prime Standard), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company focusing on the development of T cell immunotherapies, announced today that the Company's strategic partner bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE), USA, at its analyst day presentation, will present preclinical data of the first therapeutic T cell receptor (TCR) candidate resulting from the research and development partnership with Medigene. Furthermore, bluebird bio announced plans to start clinical development in 2020 with this candidate TCR targeting the tumor antigen MAGE-A4, which is expressed on a variety of solid tumor types.
The presented preclinical data demonstrate a high antigen sensitivity of the MAGE-A4-TCR with strong recognition of tumor cell lines and durable tumor elimination in a subcutaneous in vivo melanoma model. Furthermore, the data show functional responses in both CD8+ and CD4+ T cell populations, suggesting that no co-receptor will be needed for use of the MAGE-A4-TCR in solid tumors. The high functional avidity of this TCR enables it to trigger killing by CD4+ T cells in addition to CD8+ T cells, helping to potentially overcome immune suppression that is often prevalent in solid tumor microenvironments.
bluebird bio revealed its plans to start clinical development for this TCR-T-cell therapy for solid tumors in 2020, and may potentially combine this highly active TCR with other technologies to enhance T cell function in solid tumor microenvironments in next generation programs.
Prof. Dolores Schendel, CEO/CSO of Medigene, comments: "We are excited that already the first TCR discovery project that we performed for our partner bluebird bio yielded a TCR candidate displaying such convincing preclinical data and that it has been selected for clinical development by bluebird bio. This confirms the high quality of Medigene's TCR discovery platform and supports our confidence in our further projects with bluebird bio"
This is the first collaboration target of Medigene's partnership with bluebird bio of a potential six TCR products that the companies have agreed to work on together.
To see the full webcast of bluebird bio's analyst day, please follow this link: http://investor.bluebirdbio.
Medigene AG (FSE: MDG1, ISIN DE000A1X3W00, Prime Standard) is a publicly listed biotechnology company headquartered in Martinsried near Munich, Germany. The company is developing highly innovative immunotherapies to target various forms and stages of cancer. Medigene concentrates on the development of personalized T cell-based therapies with the focus on T cell-receptor modified T cells (TCR-Ts) and has associated projects currently in pre-clinical and clinical development. For more information, please visit http://medigene.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements representing the opinion of Medigene as of the date of this release. The actual results achieved by Medigene may differ significantly from the forward-looking statements made herein. Medigene is not bound to update any of these forward-looking statements. Medigene® is a registered trademark of Medigene AG. This trademark may be owned or licensed in select locations only.
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