Friday, August 26, 2022
Regen BioPharma, Inc. has announced the development of a novel immunotherapy for the treatment of solid tumors. While current cellular approaches using CAR-T cells have shown success in treating leukemia, progress in treating solid tumors, such as those in the lung, brain, breast, prostate, and colon, has been limited. This is believed to be due to the abnormal "microenvironment" of solid tumors, which hinders the entry of T cells into the tumor and deactivates those that do enter. The microenvironment consists of surrounding blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, signaling molecules, and an extracellular matrix, with the solid tumor constantly interacting with it.
Regen BioPharma's approach, for which a provisional patent application has been submitted, involves initially targeting the tumor microenvironment with CAR-M and CAR-NK cells, which are cells of the innate immune system. These cells not only begin to attack the tumor but also "normalize" the tumor microenvironment, creating conditions that allow CAR-T cells to enter and attack the tumor effectively.
Dr. David Koos, CEO and Chairman of Regen BioPharma, stated that the two-step approach of softening up the target with CAR-M and CAR-NK cells before introducing CAR-T cells will expand the potential of cell therapies to successfully target solid tumors. The company believes that this approach will significantly broaden the CAR-T market and ultimately contribute to saving lives.
