CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Unum Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a universal cellular immunotherapy to treat multiple cancers, today announced that the Company has been selected for two poster presentations on its Antibody-Coupled T cell Receptor (ACTR) platform at the AACR 2017 Annual Meeting, which is being held in Washington DC, April 1-5, 2017. The first poster presentation will highlight data from non-clinical studies on targeting BCMA-positive multiplemyeloma cells with ACTR in combination with a humanized non-fucosylated anti-BCMA antibody, SEA-BCMA, developed using Seattle Genetics’ novel sugar-engineered antibody (SEA) technology. This is the first named program under Unum’s global collaboration with Seattle Genetics. The second poster will provide data from exploratory work on targeting Glypican-3 (GPC3) with ACTR in combination with an anti-GPC3 antibody, one of the targets that the companies are also investigating under their collaboration.
The accepted abstracts are listed below and are available online on the AACR 2017 conference website: www.aacr.org.
Presentation Details:
Abstract Number: 4605
Title: Efficient targeting of
BCMA-positive multiple myeloma cells by Antibody-Coupled T cell Receptor
(ACTR) engineered autologous T cells in combination with an anti-BCMA
antibody
Authors: Tooba Cheema, Taylor Hickman, Katie
O’Callaghan, *Lori Westendorf, *Luke Manlove, *Shyra Gardai, Allison
Nelson, Ryan Boomer, Kathleen McGinness, Birgit Schultes, Seth
Ettenberg, *Django Sussman and Heather Huet.
Authors’
Affiliation: Unum Therapeutics, *Seattle Genetics
Presenter: Tooba
Cheema, Senior Scientist, Unum Therapeutics
Session:
Immunoconjugates and Antibodies
Session Date and Time: April
4, 2017, 1:00 - 5:00 PM
Location: Convention Center, Halls
A-C, Poster Section 26
Poster Board Number: 20
Abstract Number: 3762
Title: Superior T cell activity
of a membrane-proximal binding antibody when targeting Glypican-3 with
an Antibody-Coupled T cell Receptor (ACTR) armed T cell
Authors:
Greg Motz, John Shin, Kathy Whiteman, Birgit Schultes, Tapasya Pai, Lori
Westendorf*, Seth Ettenberg, Travis Biechele*, Django Sussman* and
Heather Huet
Authors’ Affiliation: Unum Therapeutics,
*Seattle Genetics
Presenter: Greg Motz, Senior Scientist,
Unum Therapeutics
Session: Innate Effectors in Immunity to
Cancer
Session Date and Time: April 4, 2017, 8:00 - 12:00 PM
Location:
Convention Center, Halls A-C, Poster Section 30
Poster Board
Number: 18
The posters will be posted on Unum’s website following the presentations.
About Antibody-Coupled T cell Receptor (ACTR) Technology
Unum’s proprietary ACTR is a chimeric protein that combines components from receptors normally found on two different human immune cell types – natural killer (NK) cells and T cells – to create a novel approach to cancer cell killing. T cells bearing the ACTR receptor protein can be directed to attack a tumor by combining with a monoclonal antibody that binds antigens on the cancer cell surface.
In contrast to other T cell therapy approaches for cancer that are limited to a single cancer cell surface target and, therefore, treat a narrow set of tumors, Unum’s approach is not restricted by a specific tumor cell antigen and, thus, may have applications for treating many different types of cancers when combined with the right antibody.
Unum is developing ACTR in combination with a range of tumor-targeting antibodies for use in both hematologic and solid tumor indications. ACTR087, Unum’s most advanced product candidate, combines Unum’s proprietary ACTR with rituximab, an anti-CD20 antibody. The ACTR087 study is the first clinical trial using a viral vector to permanently insert the ACTR gene into the genome of patients’ T cells.
About Unum Therapeutics
Unum Therapeutics uses its proprietary Antibody-Coupled T cell Receptor (ACTR) technology in combination with tumor-targeting antibodies, which is designed to activate the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. Unum is actively building a pipeline of ACTR programs in which proprietary, tumor-targeting antibodies are armed to improve their therapeutic potential. The Company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more information, visit www.unumrx.com/.
