To date, CAR T cell therapy has been efficacious in hematological malignancies. The approach in solid tumors, however, has been largely unsuccessful, in part, due to the immunosuppressive microenvironment of the tumor.
SOTIO’s BOXR cell therapy platform is designed to improve the functionality of engineered T cells by identifying novel “bolt-on” transgenes that can be co-expressed with tumor-targeting receptors to overcome resistance and improve the function of T cells in the solid tumor microenvironment.
Using a proprietary library, the BOXR approach searches for master regulatory genes of T cell biology that regulate pathways essential for cell growth, proliferation, and survival under various conditions. The screening platform generates “hits” conferring broad and superior phenotype and function to T cells in the context of the tumor microenvironment. Detailed characterization yields novel BOXR product candidates allowing for rapid discovery and further optimization and expansion of the BOXR library.
BOXR-discovered transgenes are selected to address T cell metabolism and overcome multiple mechanisms of immunosuppression:
Bolt-on genes designed to improve T cell functionality in solid tumors can be incorporated into many different cell therapy products, including CAR Ts and TCR Ts. There are applications for a broad range of immune cell therapies such as ⍺β T cells, γδ T cells and NK cells, including both autologous and allogeneic approaches. SOTIO’s BOXR candidates include novel bolt-on transgenes coupled with different targeting chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) and can utilize one or more transgenes.