The chief executive officer of Tessera Therapeutics discussed ongoing research into developing its platform for sickle cell disease, CAR T-cell therapy, and more.
“Our programs are based on a platform that we call our RNA gene writers. So, our RNA gene writers modify DNA, but they do it using all RNA constructs. So, the protein that does the work is delivered as an mRNA, and the template which contains the instructions is an RNA, and that enables a number of advantages.”
Tessera Therapeutics is aiming to develop effective and safe in vivo, nonviral gene and cell therapies, which could eliminate issues inherent with current modes of approved gene therapies such as ex vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies and adeno-associated virus (AAV) therapies. The company presented on a number of these programs at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 27th Annual Meeting, held May 7 to 10, 2024, in Baltimore, Maryland.
CGTLive spoke with Michael Severino, chief executive officer, Tessera, while at ASGCT to learn more about the company’s RNA gene writing platform and the promising advantages it might offer for a variety of different fields and indications. He overviewed research Tessera is conducting into using its platform for sickle cell disease and for in vivo generation of CAR T-cell therapies for oncologic indications. He also shared validation data on the platform in mouse models that were presented at the meeting.