Accelerating the clinical translation of “off the shelf” NK cell products for immunotherapies
Cancer is the leading of cause of death in Canada. Immunotherapy leverages the ability of immune cells
to target and eliminate cancer cells. The immunotherapies currently offered are derived predominantly
from the patient's own immune cells, which makes this approach less practical for patients with low
numbers of immune cells (e.g., elderly, patients with viral infections, autoimmune conditions, immune cell
cancers, and prior radiation therapy). Furthermore, generation of immunotherapies from patients own
immune cells often takes ~2 months to manufacture, which creates capacity issues at manufacturing
sites and introduces prohibitive costs. This makes treatments unavailable and unaffordable for many
patients and health care jurisdictions. Unfortunately, the immunotherapies that are currently offered to
treat cancer also have worrisome side effects and, in some cases can cause secondary cancers and be
fatal. To address these challenges, we plan to develop a novel technology for the manufacturing of readily
accessible “off the shelf” immune cells using cord blood. This will circumvent the need to collect immune
cells from patients being treated, thereby eliminating the time delay (through adequate supply) and
downstream prohibitive manufacturing costs. We propose to use our novel technology to engineer and
develop the next generation of immune cells that can better detect and kill cancer cells. These next
generation immune cells that we generate will be safer compared to the currently available immune
therapy blood products and will not have worrisome side effects. In summary, our work will lead to readily
accessible, more affordable, more effective, and safer blood products for Canadians in our fight against
cancer.
to target and eliminate cancer cells. The immunotherapies currently offered are derived predominantly
from the patient's own immune cells, which makes this approach less practical for patients with low
numbers of immune cells (e.g., elderly, patients with viral infections, autoimmune conditions, immune cell
cancers, and prior radiation therapy). Furthermore, generation of immunotherapies from patients own
immune cells often takes ~2 months to manufacture, which creates capacity issues at manufacturing
sites and introduces prohibitive costs. This makes treatments unavailable and unaffordable for many
patients and health care jurisdictions. Unfortunately, the immunotherapies that are currently offered to
treat cancer also have worrisome side effects and, in some cases can cause secondary cancers and be
fatal. To address these challenges, we plan to develop a novel technology for the manufacturing of readily
accessible “off the shelf” immune cells using cord blood. This will circumvent the need to collect immune
cells from patients being treated, thereby eliminating the time delay (through adequate supply) and
downstream prohibitive manufacturing costs. We propose to use our novel technology to engineer and
develop the next generation of immune cells that can better detect and kill cancer cells. These next
generation immune cells that we generate will be safer compared to the currently available immune
therapy blood products and will not have worrisome side effects. In summary, our work will lead to readily
accessible, more affordable, more effective, and safer blood products for Canadians in our fight against
cancer.
Principal Investigator / Supervisor
MAGANTI, Harinad
Co-Investigator(s) / Trainee
JEZIERSKI, Anna
ALLAN, David
Institution
Canadian Blood Services
Program
Intramural Research Grant Program
Province
Ontario
Total Amount Awarded
$300,000
Project Start Date
Project End Date