Vedanta Biosciences to Advance Cancer Immunotherapy Candidates Based on Microbiome-Derived Live Biotherapeutics that Induce C...
November 01 2017 - 3:00AM
Business Wire
Company exclusively licensed key intellectual
property from JSR Corporation in Japan, based on Dr. Kenya Honda’s
discoveries
IND filing for lead immuno-oncology candidate
planned for 2018
Vedanta Biosciences, an affiliate of PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC)
developing a new category of therapies for immune and infectious
diseases based on rationally designed consortia of human
microbiome-derived bacteria, today announced that it has
exclusively sub-licensed key intellectual property from JSR
Corporation to develop and commercialize microbiome-derived cancer
immunotherapies based on live biotherapeutics. These live
biotherapeutics have been shown to activate CD8+ T cells, a type of
white blood cell that is the predominant effector in cancer
immunotherapy. The sub-licensed intellectual property is based on
the pioneering research of Dr. Kenya Honda, Professor, of Keio
University School of Medicine and his collaborators in the
University of Tokyo in Japan. An IND filing for the lead product
candidate is planned in 2018.
“Dr. Honda’s research suggests an entirely new approach to
cancer immunotherapy harnessing the human microbiome, which has the
potential to significantly enhance the effectiveness of cancer
therapies,” said Bernat Olle, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of
Vedanta Biosciences. “We are actively developing product candidates
containing defined bacterial consortia that activate CD8+ T cells
and stimulate the immune system to fight cancer alone and in
combination with checkpoint inhibitors. This license to additional
intellectual property from Dr. Honda’s institution further
strengthens Vedanta’s leading IP position in the microbiome
field.”
In validated pre-clinical models of cancer, Vedanta’s orally
administered product candidates containing defined bacterial
consortia induced CD8+ T cells, potentiating the immune system’s
attack of tumor cells. The tumor fighting effects of a variety of
checkpoint inhibitors were significantly amplified when combined
with the bacterial consortia, suggesting a potentially novel
approach for combination cancer immunotherapy.
About Key Intellectual PropertiesKeio University and The
University of Tokyo joined the Leading Advanced Projects for
Medical Innovation (“LEAP”), part of Advanced Research and
Development Programs for Medical Innovation at The Japan Agency for
Medical Research and Development (“AMED”), in 2016. Their research
and development is focused on the development of therapeutic
cocktails of bacteria isolated from the gut microbiota. The
licensed intellectual properties were developed as a part of the
AMED-LEAP Research Program and are exclusively licensed to JSR
Corporation (TSE: JSR) from Keio University and The University of
Tokyo.
About Vedanta BiosciencesVedanta Biosciences is
pioneering development of a novel class of therapies for immune and
infectious diseases based on rationally designed consortia of
bacteria derived from the human microbiome, with clinical trials
expected to begin in the second half of 2017. An affiliate of
PureTech Health (PureTech Health plc, PRTC.L), Vedanta’s founding
team includes a group of world-renowned experts in immunology and
microbiology. Vedanta Biosciences is a leader in the microbiome
field with capabilities and deep expertise to discover, develop and
manufacture drugs based on live bacterial consortia. Leveraging its
proprietary technology platform and the expertise of its team of
scientific co-founders, Vedanta Biosciences has isolated and
maintains the largest collection of human microbiome-associated
bacterial strains and has characterized, in collaborations with
leading experts, how the immune system recognizes and responds to
these microbes. This pioneering work has led to the identification
of human commensal bacteria that induce a range of immune responses
– including induction of regulatory T cells, CD8+ T cells, and Th17
cells, among others – as well as the characterization of novel
molecular mechanisms of microbial-host communication. These
advances have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals
including Science, Nature (multiple), Cell and Nature Immunology.
Vedanta Biosciences has harnessed these biological insights, its
proprietary library of microbiome-derived bacterial strains, as
well as data from clinical translational collaborations, to
generate a pipeline of programs addressing infectious diseases,
autoimmune diseases, inflammation and immune-oncology
indications.
Vedanta Biosciences’ scientific co-founders have pioneered the
fields of innate immunity, Th17 and regulatory T cell biology, and
include Dr. Ruslan Medzhitov (Professor of Immunobiology at Yale),
Dr. Alexander Rudensky (tri-institutional Professor at the Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Institute, the Rockefeller University and Cornell
University), Dr. Dan Littman (Professor of Molecular Immunology at
NYU), Dr. Brett Finlay (Professor at the University of British
Columbia) and Dr. Kenya Honda (Professor, Keio University School of
Medicine). Vedanta is backed by Seventure, Invesco Asset
Management, and Rock Springs Capital and has collaborations with
leading institutions including Janssen Biotech, Inc., NYU Langone
Medical Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Leiden
University Medical Center, University of Tokyo, Keio University,
and RIKEN.
Forward Looking StatementThis press release contains
statements that are or may be forward-looking statements, including
statements that relate to the company's future prospects,
developments and strategies. The forward-looking statements are
based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results,
performance and achievements to differ materially from current
expectations, including, but not limited to, those risks and
uncertainties described in the risk factors included in the
regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These forward-looking
statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and
future business strategies of the company and the environment in
which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement
speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as
required by law and regulatory requirements, neither the company
nor any other party intends to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
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PureTech HealthAllison Mead Talbot, +1
617-651-3156amt@puretechhealth.com
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