Avidex generates high affinity monoclonal T cell receptors
UK company Avidex, of Oxford, says it has made a key breakthrough with its monoclonal T cell receptor (mTCR) technology and is now able to engineer T cell receptors with high affinity and specificity.
UK company Avidex, of Oxford, says it has made a key breakthrough with its monoclonal T cell receptor (mTCR) technology and is now able to engineer T cell receptors with high affinity and specificity.
Avidex realised that mTCRs require two key properties, to be of high affinity and specificity. These properties are essential to ensure that the mTCRs are directed specifically to the diseased cells and that they remain bound to those cells.
The company has now developed and patented a method of increasing the affinity of its mTCRs while retaining the natural specificity of the molecules, with the result that the mTCRs now have the characteristics that have been proved to be necessary for successful antibody development. The mTCR technology is capable of being applied to any HLA/peptide antigen combination.
'Over the last 20 years, great efforts have been invested in the production of antigen specific antibodies as therapeutics and particularly as targeting agents for cancer,' said James Noble, ceo of Avidex. 'Through high affinity mTCRs, it is now possible to target cancer antigens which are well characterised but are not targeted by antibodies.'
'Monoclonal T Cell Receptors exploit the natural targeting mechanism for T cells which are activated to kill diseased cells in the body. We have now overcome the technical hurdles to generating mTCRs that have the characteristics of monoclonal antibodies and thus with genuine therapeutic potential.'