Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:ALA) has obtained an exclusive option to license a cytokine technology which could enhance iNKT cells, allowing them to persist longer and grow in larger numbers while also potentially supercharging the performance of the platform in solid tumours and blood cancers.
The option agreement is with the University of North Carolina (UNC) Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, which developed the novel technology.
The exclusive option will raise the barrier to entry for other companies developing iNKT cell therapeutics; Arovella is one of just a handful of companies developing the technology and is keenly focused on protecting its position through option agreements and acquisitions.
Arovella Therapeutics CEO and managing director Dr Michael Baker said, “This is another important step forward for Arovella.
“From a business perspective, we intend to create a larger technology gap between ourselves and competitors in the oncology drug development market.
“The option agreement also future-proofs our iNKT platform by working with UNC Lineberger and Professor Gianpietro Dotti.
“This new relationship increases our potential to develop a best-in-class therapeutic for solid tumour cancers.
“I look forward to seeing the outcome of this novel technology when tested in conjunction with Imugene’s onCARlytics platform.”
iNKT cell cytokine licence
The technology covered by the option agreement involves the production of specialised cytokines (small proteins that signal the immune and inflammation responses) in iNKT cells.
Preliminary data has demonstrated iNKT cells that produce these cytokines experience prolonged longevity and higher cell numbers.
Factoring in longer survival rates and the increased cell density, the technology may offer a “significantly enhanced” capacity to kill solid tumour cells.
iNKT cells also play an essential role in the immune surveillance of blood cancers.
Arovella believes the cytokine addition will produce a compounding immune response, increasing the effectiveness of other immune effector cells (such as NK cells and T cells) to support the elimination of cancer cells from the patient.
UNC Lineberger Professor Gianpietro Dotti, who pioneered the generation of CAR-iNKT cells with Dr Leonid Metelitsa, and is a leading authority on iNKT cell biology, said the team had an enormous amount of experience working with iNKT cells.
“By re-engineering iNKT cells to produce this cytokine, preliminary data demonstrate profound effects on the cells, and we believe this could be transformational when using iNKT cells to treat solid tumours,” he said.
The cytokine technology is in the animal testing stages of clinical trials, the data from which will determine whether Arovella enters into a licence agreement over the next 15 months.