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news.US-based Unum Therapeutics has started a Phase I trial designed to evaluate the feasibility, safety and potential efficacy of infusing the ATTCK20 combination therapy in patients with B-cell malignancies and persistent disease following standard therapy.
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Antibody-Targeted Tumor Cell Killing 20 (ATTCK20) is a combination of a patient’s antibody-coupled T-cell receptor (ACTR) T-cells administered with rituximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting CD20.
ACTR is a chimeric protein that combines components from receptors normally found on two different human immune cell types natural killer (NK) cells and T-cells in order to create new cancer cell killing activity.
ATTCK occurs when T-cells expressing an ACTR engage a tumor-targeting antibody on the surface of a cancer cell.
The first Phase I dose escalation trial for ATTCK20 is being conducted at National University Hospital (NUH) and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in Singapore.
Unum Therapeutics president and CEO Chuck Wilson said: "Despite recent advances in cancer treatments, there are still far too many individuals with B-cell malignancies who die from their disease.
"With these unmet medical needs fueling our efforts, we are excited to see the start of clinical testing for ATTCK20."
The company said that T-cells from patients in the trial are processed at the Tissue Engineering & Cell Therapy (TECT) Laboratory at NUH.
The National University Cancer Institute’s Hematology-Oncology Research Group Trial Unit manages and supports all aspects of the clinical trial.
Currently, the unit is conducting more than 60 clinical trials, many of which are Phase I and II trials.