Research will focus on immunotherapies directed against the tumor-associated antigen, mesothelin.
Lentigen obtained an NIH SBIR Phase I funding to evaluate the use of lentiviral-engineered T cells that express chimeric receptors and signaling modules to improve efficacy of cancer immunotherapies directed against the tumor-associated antigen, mesothelin.
Mesothelin is a potentially promising target in mesothelioma, squamous cell cancers of the head and neck, and ovarian, cervical, esophageal, pancreatic, and many non-small-cell-lung cancers (NSCLC), according to Lentigen. The primary collaborator on this award is
The ultimate goal for Lentigen and Carl H. June, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, primary collaborator on this award, will be to demonstrate that human T cells can be modified using a lentiviral delivery system to directly target cancers that express mesothelin.