Rachel Abbott, DPhil | Pan Cancer T; Dora Hammerl, PhD; Tom Holdich, MBBS; Reinout Hasselink, PhD; Lars Ottevanger, MSc
Competition Sponsor: EIT Health of the European Union
Awardee Year: 2024
Pan Cancer T B.V. aims to empower a patient’s own immune T cells to cure their cancer with just a single treatment. So-called adoptive T cell therapies can cure blood cancers but their effectiveness in hard-to-treat solid cancers remains constrained. A lack of solid cancer-specific targets limits the number of eligible patients, and the hostile solid tumour microenvironment actively inhibits and exhausts T cells, thereby limiting the duration of clinical responses. Our approach includes key differentiating elements that provide solutions to these challenges. Our novel targets with high prevalence in solid tumor indication(s) increase the eligible patient populations. We have a validated platform to discover highly specific, natural T cell receptors (TCRs) with optimal avidity for the cancer target. Moreover, our proprietary T cell engineering technology is designed to further armour the T cells to resist immune suppression and enhance response durability. We are preparing to take our lead TCR-T cell therapy into clinical trials for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer, exploiting a novel target robustly expressed in >90% of patients. Our portfolio of untapped cancer-restricted targets, additional TCRs, and next generation engineering approaches offer potential future therapies and/or partnering opportunities.