Next generation, off-the-shelf, non fratricide-directed, CAR immunotherapy for relapse/refractory T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemiabroad
CARxALL · Horizon Europe grant · 2023-04-01–2026-07-31
EC contribution
Total cost
Beneficiaries
About the data
Source: CORDIS (official EU open data), Horizon Europe. Framework HORIZON · call HORIZON-EIC-2022-TRANSITION-01 · scheme HORIZON-EIC · topic HORIZON-EIC-2022-TRANSITIONOPEN-01. CORDIS record →
Objective
R/R T-ALL remains a major clinical challenge. Despite improved survival rates thanks to intensive chemotherapy regimens, event-free (EFS) and overall (OS) survival remains <70% and R/R T-ALL has a particularly poor outcome. There are currently no potential curative options for R/R T-ALL beyond hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) and conventional chemotherapy, which is linked to large trade-offs in toxicities. Sadly, >90% of patients with R/R T-ALL/LL ultimately die. Strategies targeting T-cell malignancies using immunotherapies (including CARTs) remain challenging because of the shared expression of target antigens between normal and malignant T-cells, ultimately leading to life-threatening immunodeficiency due to T-cell aplasia and fratricide of CARTs, which limits their therapeutic efficacy.Here, we propose a unique and innovative approach to address this unmet clinical need based on the dual targeting of two specific antigens with expression restricted to T-cell lymphoblasts. Our consortium aims to provide a cost-effective immunotherapeutic alternative for most of the R/R T-ALL patients by the dual targeting of two tnon-fratricide antigens using our scalable, HLA-independent, allogenic, off-the-shelf, proprietary platform of CORD-GDT cells, thus overcoming the challenges of harvesting sufficient numbers of functional effector T cells from multi-treated patients with advanced disease while avoiding the toxicities derived from other shared antigens between healthy and malignant T cells . Our strategy will be preclinically assayed using cutting-edge experimental models, and we will mature and scale-up the proprietary platform of universal CORD-GDT cells redirected against these two non-fratricide antigens, expected to provide superior effector features and contribute to ad-hoc point-of-care treatment with cost-effective, ready-to-use and off-the-shelf effector cells.
Beneficiaries (3)
| Organisation | Country | Role | EC contribution | SME |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONECHAIN IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS S.L. | ES | coordinator | €1,497,500 | Yes |
| INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA EXPERIMENTAL E TECNOLOGICA | PT | participant | €1,000,000 | Yes |
| FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA CONTRA LA LEUCEMIA JOSEP CARRERAS | ES | thirdParty | €0 |
Get the DFM funding briefing — free
New EU defence calls, tenders and awards in your inbox.
Defence Finance Monitor is an analytical and informational product. Grant data is official CORDIS; payment and subscription happen on DFM Analysis.