Neogene's Focus On Off-The-Shelf TCR Therapies

By Erin Harris, Editor-In-Chief, Cell & Gene
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Cell & Gene: The Podcast features some of the CGT sector’s brightest leaders who share their expertise on the timeliest topics and trends. If you can’t tune in to every episode, I’ve got you covered. Here are highlights, quotes, and more from a recently aired episode.
The Episode:
Guest At-A-Glance
Carsten Linnemann, Ph.D. is the President, CEO, and Co-Founder of Neogene Therapeutics. He received a Ph.D. with honors from The Netherlands Cancer Institute, where he worked on engineering T cell immunity by TCR gene transfer in Dr. Ton Schumacher's laboratory. He is an alumnus of the German Academic Foundation and the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds – Foundation for Biomedical Research. Prior to co-founding Neogene Therapeutics, Dr. Linnemann served as Associate Director for Next Generation T Cell Therapies at Kite Pharma, Managing Director of Kite Pharma EU B.V., and co-founded several biotech companies, including T-Cell Factory B.V., which was acquired by Kite Pharma in 2015.
Organization At-A-Glance
Neogene Therapeutics is a global, clinical-stage biotechnology company that specializes in developing next-generation T-cell receptor therapies (TCR-Ts) for cancer treatment. Their approach aims to overcome limitations in current cell therapies for solid tumors by focusing on shared neoantigen-specific TCR-Ts and fully individualized TCR-Ts targeting patient-specific mutations. In November 2022, AstraZeneca announced an agreement to acquire Neogene Therapeutics, aiming to strengthen AstraZeneca's cell therapy capabilities in oncology. Following the acquisition, Neogene operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca while maintaining its operations in Amsterdam and California.
Episode Highlights
Focus on Off-the-Shelf
During the episode, Linnemann emphasized how rapid progress has led to encouraging data and promising results for TCR therapies. He also highlighted the importance of making TCR therapies more accessible to patients globally by developing them into “off-the-shelf” drugs rather than patient-specific autologous therapies. This shift, he believes, will be crucial in unlocking the full potential of TCR therapies for cancer treatment worldwide.
Indeed, Linnemann explains that Neogene’s goal is to discover a wide array of effective T-cell receptors (TCRs) to benefit patients worldwide. If achieved, the next major challenge for the field will be optimizing the global distribution of these treatments. Currently, the logistics are complex, he explains, but there is a compelling vision to transform these highly personalized therapies into readily available, off-the-shelf drugs. He notes that this prospect is incredibly exciting, and it’s an objective the industry may accomplish in the coming years.
Top Quotes
6:24: What makes TCR t-cells special and a great opportunity as a treatment for cancer patients is the fact that T-cell receptors allow us to target a space in tumors that is otherwise very hard to reach.
15:33 What we have seen over the last couple of years is how these kind of treatments have revolutionized the way we think about treating hematological malignancies as a starting point. I think we’ve seen how these therapies can really transform the outcome for these patients. Over the next few years, we’re certainly going to see more of these therapies being broadly used across different cancers, in particular, solid tumors. And then, hopefully, this will not stop in oncology. It will reach other areas like rare diseases and autoimmune diseases.
There’s More Where That Came From
The full-length episode delivers interesting details on the evolution of T-cell receptor therapies, the potential benefits of TCR-T therapies for cancer treatment, the importance of investing in these therapies, and more. Listen in here or wherever you get your podcasts to hear the full story.