NEW YORK – Cellerys on Thursday said it plans to use technology from Neogap Therapeutics, a Swedish biotechnology company that develops precision cancer immunotherapies, in an upcoming Phase II trial to assess its cell therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS).
The therapy, RED4MS, is designed to induce antigen-specific immune tolerance for MS patients. Patients' red blood cells are coupled ex vivo with a dozen peptides that are target antigens in MS, and are then reinfused into the patient. As those cells die naturally, they are expected to help rebuild tolerance in the immune system, so immune cells don't continue to attack patients' brain and spinal cord tissue.
As part of a Phase II trial, Zurich-based Cellerys plans to use Neogap's EpiTCer, a technology that detects rare autoreactive T cells in patients, to monitor participants. EpiTCer targets and attaches small beads to specific antigens involved in autoimmune disease, which are displayed on the cell surface and activate T cells. Cellerys said it will use those T cells as biomarkers to gauge whether patients are developing immune tolerance.
"The collaboration with Cellerys opens up opportunities for Neogap to use our technology platform in several disease fields," Neogap CEO Samuel Svensson said in a statement. "Our goal is to continue to develop innovative applications for EpiTCer and contribute to the development of new therapies for the treatment of severe diseases."
EpiTCer was developed by Hans Grönlund, founder and CSO of Neogap and an associate professor of immunology at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. Neogap is based at Karolinska's Centre for Molecular Medicine.
Cellerys is a spinout of the University of Zurich.