Expression Therapeutics wins $2.06M NCI grant for pediatric cancer therapy
What's the deal? Expression TherapeuticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has received a $2,058,885 Phase II grant from the National Cancer InstituteDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to advance ET501, an investigational γδ T-cell therapy for children with high-risk neuroblastoma. The award funds work toward an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration.
Why now? Neuroblastoma, a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system, affects over 650 US children annually, with a median diagnosis age of 17 months. Five-year event-free survival sits around 51.2%, underscoring the need for better options for high-risk patients.
What's the endgame? ET501 uses the company's ADEPT-STAR platform and LENTeT lentiviral system to engineer γδ T-cells that secrete a T-cell engager inside the tumor. It targets PTK7, a protein on neuroblastoma cells, while binding CD3 on T-cells to rally both infused and existing immune cells.
"Children with high-risk neuroblastoma need treatment options beyond today's regimens," said chief executive officer David Townson. "This award funds the work that stands between ET501 and an IND application."
What could go wrong? ET501 is preclinical and has not been tested in humans. The grant funds studies to validate its efficacy and determine whether an IND submission is viable — an early, uncertain stage.
Based in Tucker, Georgia, Expression Therapeutics develops gene and cell therapies. It is also running advanced studies on a separate γδ T-cell program, ET401, for adults with neuroendocrine tumors.
The signal: At roughly $2 million, the grant is a modest but targeted bet, sitting above two-thirds of comparable funding events. It reflects continued public investment in cell therapies for cancers where existing treatments fall short.
Read more: third-news.com
Image credit: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
