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Phio, Helmholtz Zentrum München partner to develop cell therapies for solid tumors
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Biotech firm Phio Pharmaceuticals announced it has entered into a research collaboration with Helmholtz Zentrum München, the German Research Center for Environmental Health, to develop T cell and natural killer cell adoptive cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors.
A group led by Elfriede Nößner, PhD, head of immunoanalytics at Helmholtz Zentrum München, will conduct the research, which will take place at the center’s Immunoanalytics Core Facility in Germany in conjunction with Phio’s internal research activities. The collaboration seeks to develop new targets for cancer immunotherapies based on Phio’s proprietary self-delivering RNAi platform.
"We are excited to be working with Dr. Nößner and her team who are experts in the study of lymphoid and myeloid effector cells and how to improve their contribution in overcoming tumor immunosuppression,” John A. Barrett, PhD, chief development officer of Phio Pharmaceuticals said in a press release. “The group has a successful track record of industry collaborations; thus the work will be of direct relevance for the development of the next-generation therapeutics based on our self-delivering RNAi platform."
Phio’s self-delivering RNAi platform (sd-rxRNA) is a novel hybrid oligonucleotide compound in which drug-like properties are built into the RNAi compound. It is a proprietary combination of chemical modifications that result in spontaneous cellular uptake of self-delivering RNAi compounds without the need for a delivery vehicle, according to the Massachusetts-based company’s website.
The current drug product pipeline for Phio includes checkpoint-inhibiting adoptive cell transfer therapies that use tumor infiltrating lymphocytes for melanoma, ovarian and head and neck cancers, and other checkpoint-inhibiting ACTs that use T-cell and T-cell receptors.
"Available data show that Phio Pharmaceuticals' self-delivering RNAi technology is ideally suited to inhibit checkpoints in immune effector cells such as T cells and NK cells in the microenvironment of solid tumors or inflammatory diseases,” Nößner said in a press release. “I look forward to working with the Phio team on targets beyond their interesting checkpoint-inhibiting self-delivering RNAi pipeline."
Reference:
Phio Pharmaceuticals. Phio Pharmaceuticals and Helmholtz Zentrum München to collaborate on novel targets for the Uue of self-delivering RNAi in T cell and NK cell adoptive cell therapy therapeutics [news release]. August 15, 2019. Available at: http://investors.phiopharma.com/news-releases/news-release-details/phio-pharmaceuticals-and-helmholtz-zentrum-munchen-collaborate. Accessed August 15, 2019.