Cancer Research UK Teams Up with London Startup in Immuno-oncology

Biotecnol, based in London, has found a partner in CRUK to bring its immune-stimulating antibody into the clinic to tackle solid tumors.

There will (probably) be a new immuno-oncology drug on the block soon: Cancer Research UK has gone in on London startup Biotecnol‘s antibody in a deal to bring it to an open-label Phase I trial. The drug, Tb535H, is designed to bind to and flag the 5T4/WAIF1 tumor antigen for attack by CD8-positive T cells.

This approach is well-established in immuno-oncology — another English biotech, Scancell, has reached gold-standard survival with its CD8-activating vaccine, and Stimunity in Paris is working along the same lines — but leveraging this antigen is unique to the Biotecnol. In fact, the WAIF1 antigen was discovered by CRUK as having a role in cancers with solid tumors, including those in the lungs, making the partnership a natural choice.

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