Gothenburg, August 10, 2023 - Elicera Therapeutics AB (publ) (“Elicera”), a clinical stage cell and gene therapy company developing next-generation therapies based on oncolytic viruses and CAR T-cells armed with bystander immune activating properties using the company’s commercially available platform iTANK, today announced the publication of a scientific article in the prestigious journal, Nature Communications, describing the CAR T construct in the ELC-401 program.
The publication entitled "Complementarity-determining region clustering may cause CAR-T cell dysfunction" (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40303-z) describes the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), that ELC-401 uses to bind to the target IL13Ra2 and which Elicera plans on using to treat the brain tumor form glioblastoma. Brain cancer is notoriously difficult to treat and poses certain challenges, such as a hostile tumor microenvironment and antigen heterogeneity that the company believes its iTANK-platform can help meet through is bystander immune activating properties.
Furthermore, the article shows the importance of thoroughly screening the CAR molecules that are produced in order to be able to manufacture functional CAR T-cells with the ability to persist and kill tumor cells over longer periods of time. This is of utmost importance to prevent relapse after CAR T-treatment.
"We are very pleased that we were able to publish the work in Nature Communications, which is a highly respected and broad journal that reaches out to the entire scientific community," says Professor Magnus Essand, Chief Scientific Officer at Elicera.
For further information please contact:
Jamal El-Mosleh, CEO, Elicera Therapeutics AB
Phone: +46 (0) 703 31 90 51
jamal.elmosleh@elicera.com
About ELC-401
ELC-401 is an IL13Ra2-directed CAR T-cell therapy in the treatment of a variety of solid tumors. Initially, the company intends to use ELC-401 in the treatment of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, but the company sees potential for the treatment of additional solid tumors such as colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and melanoma. ELC-401 has been armed with the company's iTANK platform for activating CD8 + killer T-cells against the entire set of relevant targets on tumor cells, thus generating a powerful parallel immune response against cancer.
About Elicera Therapeutics AB
Elicera Therapeutics AB is a clinical stage cell and gene therapy company that develops next-generation therapies based on oncolytic viruses and CAR T-cells, armed with the company’s proprietary and commercially available platform, iTANK. The work is based on high-profile long-standing research conducted by Professor Magnus Essand's research group at Uppsala University and has resulted in the development of four drug candidates, including two CAR T-cells and two oncolytic viruses. The iTANK-platform is used to arm the company's own CAR T-cells, in addition to the oncolytic virus ELC-201, but can also be universally applied to other CAR T-cell therapies under development. The company’s share (ELIC) is traded on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Erik Penser Bank has been appointed the Company's Certified Adviser.
For more information, please visit www.elicera.com