Perspectives

Really insightful talk delivered by Dr. Mythill Koneru (Chief Medical Officer – Marker Therapeutics) @ the CAR-TCR Summit Europe 2020 highlighting the advantages of Marker Therapeutics Multi-Tumour-Associated Antigen-Specific (MultiTAA) T Cells in multiple oncology-focused indications.

In pondering the ongoing discoveries and nascent technologies that could advance the treatment of cancer in the coming decade...

Continuing on this theme that Joel has raised in his recent post (“CD19 and BCMA – ‘What if This is as Good as it Gets?’”), I would like to add a few additional points. One, Joel notes the limited universe of validated targets. The issue of target discovery remains critical for Oncology. And while many companies are leveraging diverse platforms to surface completely new targets (such as Immatics and Atreca), other biotechs are exploiting unique twists and keen understanding of the biology of cancer cells to identify novel targets, as defined by novel epitopes for antibodies and related, that are unique to cancer cells, but which are occurring on known, validated targets, meaning know cell surface proteins (like GO Therapeutics, targeting novel cancer-specific glycosylation).

We are all touched by cancer; as an individual battling cancer, as a survivor of cancer or as a friend or family member of someone faced with the disease. Unfortunately, I have witnessed too many people impacted by the ravages of this disease in the last 18-months, some losing their battle at far too young an age.