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Renowned CAR-T expert George Shet is co-founding Boulevard Bio, a company focused on immunology and inflammation (I&I), not cell therapy. This move suggests that deep biological expertise—in this case, B-cell depletion—can be strategically applied across different therapeutic modalities like bispecific and trispecific antibodies, beyond a scientist's original field.
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In the real world, the selection of a therapeutic modality like an antibody or peptide is often driven by a company's existing expertise and technology platform rather than a purely agnostic approach to finding the single best tool for a clinical problem. Organizations default to the tools in their toolbox.
To overcome the industry bottleneck of few validated solid tumor targets (15-20), Memo analyzes tumor-infiltrating B-cells from patients with superior outcomes. This approach aims to identify unique antibody-target pairs, unlocking new biological pathways for next-generation therapies like ADCs and CAR-Ts.
Previously underperforming cancer targets like TIGIT and LAG-3 are seeing renewed interest. Innovative antibody engineering, such as creating bispecific antibodies that target multiple pathways simultaneously, is giving these 'failed' targets new life and potential for clinical success.
The current success of bi-specific antibodies is not the final stage of antibody therapy. CEO Errik Anderson views it as an iterative learning process. Insights from today's drugs will reveal new unmet needs, leading to the development of next-generation therapies like tri-specifics or different bi-specifics, continuing a decades-long innovation cycle.
Despite initial hype in oncology where business models struggled, cell therapy is finding a major new application in treating autoimmune diseases. By resetting the immune system, it can offer functional cures for debilitating conditions—a powerful and unexpected pivot for the technology platform.
The current boom in immunology and autoimmune (I&I) therapeutics is not a separate phenomenon but a direct consequence of capital and knowledge from immuno-oncology. Many of the same biological pathways are being targeted, simply modulated down (for autoimmune) instead of up (for cancer), allowing for rapid therapeutic advancement and platform reuse.
Bispecific antibodies are "off-the-shelf" therapies with manageable side effects that don't require specialized manufacturing centers like CAR T. This allows community practices to administer highly effective T-cell redirecting therapies, equalizing access for patients far from major academic institutions.
Gilead connects its diverse therapeutic areas—virology, oncology, and immunology—through a unified scientific principle. The immune system is the common thread: it must be activated to fight viruses and cancer but dampened in autoimmune diseases. This allows platform technologies like CAR-T to be leveraged across all three areas.
Quell differentiates its CAR-Treg therapy by aiming to restore immune balance. Unlike B-cell depletion therapies (CAR-T), their approach uses CD19 on B-cells as an activation signal. This creates a local suppressive environment that 'chills' multiple pathogenic cell types (T-cells, B-cells, macrophages) instead of killing just one.
The T-cell delivery system is versatile. It can carry T-cell engagers for cancer, but also antibodies for Alzheimer's or oligonucleotides. By using different T-cell types (like regulatory T-cells), it can also be used to reduce inflammation, expanding its applicability beyond oncology.