PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--THERAVECTYS, a pioneer in the development of lentiviral vector therapeutic vaccines and T-cell therapies, announced today its exclusive license to a library of synthetic humanized camelid nanobodies, developed at the Institut Curie in Paris, France.
Over the last 10 years, THERAVECTYS has continuously strengthened its in-house expertise in lentiviral vectors and searched to demonstrate synergies with other innovative and complementary immunotherapy approaches. These efforts have lead evidence of sustainable remissions in cancer and the durable treatment of major global infectious diseases.
With the addition of the nanobody synthetic library from the Institut Curie, THERAVECTYS now owns one of the most comprehensive immunotherapeutic platforms able to stimulate and modulate the immune system: prophylactic & therapeutic vaccines (through the direct administration of lentiviral vectors), Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) & T Cell Receptor (TCR) based cell therapies and anti-checkpoint inhibitors, along with additional strategic assets.
Under the terms of the agreement, THERAVECTYS has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to the library to:
- Generate proprietary receptors for CAR & TCR-based therapies
- Identify checkpoint inhibitors
- Screen tumor antigens
In addition to the licensing agreement, THERAVECTYS and the Institut Curie have entered into a long-term R&D alliance, in order to optimize the library and accelerate the development of THERAVECTYS’ ongoing programs in immuno-oncology. The synthetic nature of the library will allow the identification of nanobodies in less than six months, as well as the engineering of their biochemical properties including affinity and stability.
“Our nanobody library offers an unrivalled potential in immuno-oncology. The low molecular weight of nanobodies allow their insertion into lentiviral vectors and can thus be expressed as CARs on T and NK cells,” said Frank PEREZ, Research Director at the Institut Curie and at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).
“We are pleased to collaborate with THERAVECTYS. I am convinced that the intense and long-lasting immune responses induced by their lentiviral vector vaccines, combined with the tumor de-protection effect of our anti-checkpoint nanobodies, will change the game in the immuno-oncology field and further improve the current immunotherapy-based treatments in cancer,” commented Sebastian AMIGORENA, Director of INSERM Unit 932 at Institut Curie.
About THERAVECTYS
THERAVECTYS is a fully-integrated discovery and clinical development biotech company originating from the Pasteur Institute and a pioneer in the development of lentiviral vector vaccines and CAR T-cell therapies.
The company has optimized and industrialized next-generation methods to exploit the use of lentivectors in new therapies and has built a broad and robust intellectual property position in addition to licenses to fundamental intellectual property from institutions including Institut Pasteur and Institut Curie.
The company’s lead infectious disease lentivector vaccine has successfully completed a Phase I/II safety & immunogenicity human proof-of-concept study in HIV. THERAVECTYS lead oncology lentivector vaccine will enter clinical trials in 2015 while the company’s CAR T-cell therapies are in the preclinical stage.
Alone or with partners, THERAVECTYS plans to advance its pipeline of oncology and infectious disease therapies using the company’s integrated set of discovery, clinical development, and manufacturing capabilities specialized in lentiviral vector technologies.
The company is privately-held and based in Villejuif, France.
