SINGAPORE, Aug. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Professor
Antonio Bertoletti (Scientific
Founder) & Dr Sarene Koh
(Product Development Director) of Lion TCR Pte Ltd in Singapore collaborated with Professor
Maura Dandri and Dr. Janine Kah of University Medical Center Hambourg
and various Singapore & German
institutions published their finding on the effective control of
chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection with T cell immunotherapy in
the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation (see
reference to JCI article below). CHB has severe quantitative and
functional defects in HBV-specific T cell response. Restoration of
the HBV specific T cells are determinant to clear the virus of CHB. The team is the first
to use mRNA transduction to engineer the transient HBV specific
TCR-redirected T cells as a new therapeutic strategy against CHB.
The research utilizes molecular biology techniques to modify the T
cells of a patient. When infused back into the patient's body, the
TCR redirected T lymphocytes find, recognize and inhibit or clear
the hepatitis B virus in hepatocyte.
Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver that is a major
global health problem. More than 250 million people are chronic
hepatitis B (CHB) carriers and approximately 1 million people die
every year from CHB-related diseases. There is an urgent need to
design new strategies to eliminate and achieve functional cure of
chronic HBV infection.
Various current therapies for HCC only inhibit the virus without clearance of the virus,
patients continue to live under the danger of complications which
many eventually die from.
This study, a collaborative effort between Duke-NUS, various
prestigious Singapore & German
institutions and Lion TCR, provides a potential solution to control
the HBV infection, potentially complete clearance of HBV virus and
possibly leading to a cure for CHB. The research uses proprietary
technologies from Lion TCR Pte Ltd on TCR-T cell therapy invented
by Prof Antonio Bertoletti.
About Lion TCR Pte Ltd
Lion TCR is a clinical-stage T cell immunotherapy company
specialized on the development and commercialisation of its
proprietary technologic and T cell products against viral-related
cancers. In Asia, out of every 5
cancer, 1 is caused by viral infection. The company is a world
leader in HBV specific TCR redirected T cell therapy against
HCC.
Reference:
Lymphocytes transiently expressing virus-specific T cell receptors
reduce hepatitis B virus infection
Janine Kah, Sarene Koh, Tassilo Volz, Erica Ceccarello, Lena
Allweiss, Marc Lutgehetmann, Antonio Bertoletti, and Maura
Dandri
JCI July 2017
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SOURCE Lion TCR Pte Ltd.