Date: 2015-04-23
Type of information: Clinical research agreement
Compound: MEDI4736 and CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell candidates
Company: MedImmune (USA - global biologics arm of AstraZeneca (UK) Juno Therapeutics (USA - WA)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: clinical research
Action mechanism: monoclonal antibody/cell therapy/immunotherapy product/CAR-T cell therapy MEDI4736 is a human monoclonal antibody directed against programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1). Signals from PD-L1 help tumours avoid detection by the immune system. MEDI4736 blocks these signals, countering the tumour’s immune-evading tactics.This antibody is directed against B7-H1, have been shown to block the interaction between B7-H1 and its receptors, PD-1 and CD80 (B7-1). This blockade may help to overcome the immunosuppressive effects of B7-H1 on anti-tumor T cells. Juno's chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology genetically engineers T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. Juno's CAR T cell technology inserts a gene for a particular CAR into the T cell, enabling it to recognize cancer cells based on the expression of a specific protein located on the cell surface. When the engineered T cell engages the target protein on the cancer cell, it initiates a cell-killing response against the cancer cell.
Disease: non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Details: * On April 23, 2015, MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, and Juno Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on re-engaging the body's immune system to revolutionize the treatment of cancer, announced that they have entered into a new collaboration to conduct combination clinical trials in immuno-oncology with one of Juno's investigational CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell candidates and MedImmune's investigational programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immune checkpoint inhibitor, MEDI4736. Under the initial development plan, both companies will explore the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of the combination therapy as a potential treatment for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
Under the terms of the non-exclusive collaboration, MedImmune and Juno will jointly co-fund the initial Phase Ib study, which is expected to begin later in 2015. The companies will also explore the combination of MEDI4736 with a next-generation, Juno-developed fully human CD19-directed CAR T cell candidate.
Financial terms: Financial details were not disclosed.
Latest news:
