Immunotherapy-based cancer vaccines could permanently kill tumors by stimulating immune cells in multiple ways. At the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT), researchers presented their advances in this field with different techniques in the scientific symposium “Novel nucleic acid and cell-based vaccines for cancer,” organized by the infectious diseases and vaccines committee.

Verismo Therapeutics Inc. has received IND clearance from the FDA to conduct a phase I trial with Synkir-310 for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

Bolt Biotherapeutics Inc. has unveiled BDC-4182, a next-generation Boltbody immune-stimulating antibody conjugate (ISAC) clinical candidate targeting Claudin 18.2.

Pheast Therapeutics Inc. has announced the presentation of preclinical data for PHST-001, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting CD24, a macrophage checkpoint.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $5 million grant from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) to support research aimed at developing new immunotherapies for different types of blood-based cancers.

Researchers from the University of Florida have developed a novel mRNA cancer vaccine that aims to reprogram the immune system to target and attack cancer cells effectively. The study led by Elias Sayour reported a new mRNA vaccine design where the mRNA payload was wrapped into a multilamellar vesicle within an onion-like hierarchical structure. The findings were published in the May 9, 2024 issue of Cell.

Researchers from Indiana University presented data from a study that aimed to assess the therapeutic potential of interleukin-9 (IL-9) blockade in the context of lung cancer.

α-Fetoprotein (AFP) is a tumor-associated antigen and an ideal target for T-cell receptor T-cell (TCR-T) therapy. While the safety of AFP-targeting TCR-T products has been previously demonstrated in early clinical trials, the efficacy of these cell therapies is still modest, warranting further research.