Jeffrey Miller, MD, on Engaging NK Cells in Solid Tumors

“We learned [in a previous study] that the immune engager to the NK cell is critically important. And while that study was ongoing, we discovered that if we took a nanobody, single domain antibody to engage CD16, we had significantly greater potency. So that's really the premise for putting this together.”

GTB-5550, a B7H3 tri-specific killer engager (TriKE) specifically stimulated expansion of natural killer (NK) cells in preclinical models of multiple cancers. These data were presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2022, held September 9-13, in Paris, France, by Jeffrey Miller, MD, professor and deputy director of the Masonic Cancer Center of the University of Minnesota.

GTB-5550 is a novel dual camelid (cam) TriKE that contains wild type interleukin-15 as well as 2 cam engagers to target CD16 on NK cells and B7H3 on multiple solid tumors. Miller and colleagues demonstrated increased activity of NK cells against cancer cells after stimulation with the TriKE engager.

CGTLive spoke with Miller to learn more about the study’s results and the importance of improving targeting and engagement of NK cells with antibodies. He also discussed the potential for a clinical trial in the near future investigating the approach.

Click here to read more coverage of ESMO Congress 2022.

REFERENCE

Miler JS, Zorko N, Merino A, et al. B7H3-targeted tri-specific killer engagers deliver IL-15 to NK cells but not T-cells, and specifically target solid tumors as a pan-tumor antigen strategy mediated through NK cells. Presented at: ESMO Congress 2022, September 9-13, Paris, France.