Adaptimmune LLC has been set up to support the expansion of the company’s clinical activities in the US where it is already running a pilot trial in HIV and preparing to open three trials in different cancer indications later this month.
Adaptimmune has been progressing the development of its clinical programmes in T cell adoptive therapy using its enhanced T cell receptor technology since 2008. The company has been working closely with the translational research group from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia with which it already has a pilot trial in HIV. Adaptimmune is now preparing to open three additional trials in multiple myeloma, metastatic melanoma and synovial sarcoma at multiple sites later this month.
Dr Gwen Binder-Scholl heads the new US company as Vice President of Operations and joins with extensive experience in T cell and gene therapy translational research, development, manufacture and regulatory affairs. She was formerly Director of Operations of the Translational Research Program at the University of Pennsylvania and before that Director of Scientific Affairs at Virxsys Corporation. Dr Binder-Scholl is a graduate of Wells College, New York with a PhD from John Hopkins University School of Medicine.
“We are tremendously fortunate to have attracted someone of Gwen’s calibre and experience to the company at this critical juncture in Adaptimmune’s development”, says James Noble, Adaptimmune’s CEO. “It has become increasingly important to us to support our expanding clinical activities in the US with the right resource and infrastructure; we see Gwen’s appointment as hugely significant in the first step towards this objective.”
”I am thrilled to have the opportunity to play a leading role in the clinical and commercial development of this promising technology platform, and to work with the superb scientific and business team at Adaptimmune Ltd,” says Gwen Binder-Scholl.
The new office will be located at the University Science Center in Philadelphia, alongside Adaptimmune’s strategic collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania.
Contact
Margaret Henry PR Consultant Adaptimmune Ltd, UK T: +44 (0)1865 261491 E: m.henry@oxin.co.uk
About Adaptimmune
Adaptimmune Limited is focused on the use of T cell therapy to treat HIV and cancer. It aims to utilise the body’s own machinery – the T lymphocyte cell – to target and destroy cancerous or infected cells.
Established in July 2008, Adaptimmune was set up to develop Immunocore Ltd’s (formerly Avidex/MediGene Ltd’s) unique T cell receptor engineering technology for adoptive T cell therapy. Specifically, Adaptimmune makes use of the body’s ability to recognise infected or cancerous cells by enhancing the power of the T cell receptor (TCR) on killer T cells. Cancerous or virally infected cells will typically present small parts or peptides of larger viral proteins or abnormal cancer proteins on their surface, offering a "molecular fingerprint" called an epitope for killer T-cells from the immune system to identify. In a healthy individual, this triggers an immune response, eliminating the affected cell. However, viruses such as HIV mutate rapidly, swiftly disguising their fingerprints to allow them to hide from killer T-cells whilst cancer proteins are usually derived from self proteins against which natural TCRs do not respond. Adaptimmune’s technology uniquely enhances the natural TCR affinity to either viral or cancer protein epitopes on an individual patient’s cells overcoming these obstacles for therapeutic benefit.
Adaptimmune has undertaken significant preclinical development with a number of pipeline TCRs to demonstrate their potency and specificity in vitro. It is poised to gather clinical safety and efficacy data with regulatory approvals for human trials in HIV and cancer now in place. http://www.adaptimmune.com
