MMB-101/102/201 Novel T cell Immunotherapy Screen
Research type
Research Study
Full title
In vitro testing of novel reagents to modify T cell responses in cancer and autoimmunity
IRAS ID
281687
Contact name
Christian B Willberg
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
MediMab Biotherapeutics Ltd. is a subsidiary company of MediMab Bio INC., based in the Republic of Korea. We are a ground-breaking biotherapeutic company focusing on the generation of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmunity.
Our discovery platform uses advances in systems biology combined with sophisticated immunological solutions to identify significantly improved first-in-class immune-oncology drugs that can actively target a range of advanced and solid tumours. The company has developed pipelines of highly promising novel drugs that aim to overcome the current limitations of cancer immunotherapy and autoimmunity. For this purpose, MediMabBio is establishing a research presence in the UK to take advantage of local expertise and facilitate European-wide collaborations.
We are developing a portfolio of first-in-class antibody immunotherapy that target immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), agonistic activity of co-stimulatory signalling receptors (found on different immune cells subsets as well as T cells), bispecific antibodies to target 'cold' solid tumours.
This study will utilise in vitro assays using immune cells derived from leukocyte cones. Leukocyte cones are a waste product from leukapheresis and are sold by the NHSBT service. Samples are fully anonymised, with no clinical data or identifiers attached, i.e. there is no way a researcher could trace the source of the cells to a specific donor.
Cells derived from the leukocyte cones will be used directly in vitro assays to assess the functionality of our novel reagents or to develop and optimise assays. Assays will measure T cell activation through a number of different parameters, such as receptor and cytokine expression, and proliferation or cytotoxicity. These are well-established assays which are used throughout the field of immunology. The assays will not produce findings of clinical significance for donors or their relatives.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/EM/0149
Date of REC Opinion
3 Jun 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion