Advantages of Invariant Natural Killer T Cell Therapies

“We really spent the last 3 years in development focusing on mastering the art of isolating the rarest, most highly conserved, and what we believe to be the most potent of immune cells from healthy donors. These cells are called invariant natural killer T cells. They're a powerful subset of T cells, and exhibit the durability and memory features of T cells, but also the rapid killing power and activity of NK cells. These cells actually modulate both innate and adaptive immunity, and they're unique in that way.”

MiNK Therapeutics is developing allogeneic invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapies to treat cancers and other immune-mediated diseases. These cells combine the durability and memory of T-cells with the rapid killing power of NK cells.

MiNK is advancing an off-the shelf iNKT cell therapy, AgenT-797, in clinical trials in multiple myeloma (NCT04754100), solid tumor cancers (NCT05108623), and in patients with severe viral ARDS (NCT04582201). Clinical data available to date has demonstrated that MiNK’s iNKT cell therapy, has been well-tolerated when dosed up to 1 billion cells without lymphodepletion, with no evidence of cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity.

CGTLive spoke with Jennifer Buell, PhD, president and chief executive officer, MiNK Therapeutics, to learn more about MiNK Therapeutics and their focus on using iNKT cell therapies for different indications. She discussed the advantages of these types of therapies over more traditional cell therapies.

REFERENCE

MiNK Therapeutics announces patients dosed with AgenT-797 iNKT cell therapy in solid tumor cancers. News release. MiNK Therapeutics. March 3, 2022. https://investor.minktherapeutics.com/news-releases/news-release-details/mink-therapeutics-announces-patients-dosed-agent-797-inkt-cell