Science
Enhancing
cancer immunotherapy
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed cancer therapy, especially for advanced stages, but their effectiveness is limited to about 20% of all cases. Consequently, a combination of therapeutic vaccination and ICIs emerges as a prime approach. This strategy aims to enhance the immune system’s capacity for a cytotoxic attack on tumors.
A potent immunization system
Injected under the skin, the vaccine’s purpose is to train the immune system to identify and eliminate cancer cells in a targeted and lasting manner. This action is enhanced if immune checkpoint inhibitors or chemotherapy lift the restrictions placed by the tumor on effector immune cells.
Combined with an adjuvant, the vaccine’s key VLP-based ingredient is engineered to selectively engage an endocytic receptor on the most effective antigen presenting immune cells.
This leads to the internalization of the ingredient through endocytic pathways, facilitating the breakdown of peptide antigens. The sequence of these peptide antigens is meticulously crafted to ensure their fragmentation into the desired peptides. Subsequently, these peptides are captured and held within the major histocompatibility complexes (MHC), setting the stage for their cross-presentation to T lymphocytes.
Leveraging the synergistic effects of the adjuvant and the mechanism of cross-presentation, T cells are activated within the lymph nodes, leading to their proliferation.
The culmination of this process is the migration and infiltration of these activated T cells into tumor sites, where they exert a targeted cytotoxic effect against tumor cells displaying the same antigens introduced through the vaccine.
Following the initiation of the cytotoxic reaction, a domino effect occurs where the destroyed tumor cells emit additional tumor antigens, which are identified as « foreign » by the immune system, enhancing the vaccine’s efficacy. Importantly, the ultimate goal is to produce memory T lymphocytes, offering the body protection against the common recurrences seen in cancer treatment.
Research &
Development
The team at Serendip aims to explore the capabilities of their technology by encapsulating various molecules of interest like small chemical molecules or mRNA, and by attaching vaccine-adjuvants directly to the particle’s surface through chemical methods.
This approach will broaden the scope of the particle’s use in both preventive and therapeutic vaccines, as well as in targeted treatment strategies, such as the precise delivery to specific diseased cells of chemotherapy without toxicologic issues or mRNA without any stability or off-target issues.
Consequently, this will exponentially expand our market possibilities and potential collaborations.
