Los Angeles, CA – Mabswitch Inc, a pioneering biotechnology company at the forefront of cutting-edge cancer immunotherapies, is proud to announce that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This grant will support Mabswitch’s groundbreaking project, titled “SaefCAR: Regulatable CAR T-cells for Safe and Effective Immunotherapy”.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has emerged as a promising approach in cancer treatment, particularly for patients with advanced or refractory malignancies. However, despite its potential, the risk of serious adverse events and loss of potency remain significant problems associated with the current generation of CAR T-cell therapies. These problems are influenced by the binding affinity of the CAR targeting domain, the majority of which are derived from monoclonal antibodies.
In this new NCI supported project, Mabswitch aims to address these problems by utilizing its proprietary universal allosteric-linker and switch module for antibodies (UNASMA™) technology to develop a switchable affinity antibody against a clinically validated cancer target that will then be formatted as a switchable affinity chimeric antigen receptor (SaefCAR™) to assess the feasibility to regulate the activity of CAR T-cells in the patients body.
To improve the clinical efficacy while avoiding toxicities of CAR-T cell therapies, it is critical to control recognition and engagement of the cancer by the CAR T-cells in the patients body. We are excited that the National Cancer Institute recognizes the potential of our UNASMA technology and supports our research to develop safer, more efficacious CAR based therapies for the treatment of cancer and other debilitating diseases.
Dr. Yemi Onakunle, CEO Mabswitch
