CAR-T therapy modifies a patient’s own immune cells so they recognize cancer cells. It works very well against some blood cancers but has so far had limited effect on solid tumors. One main reason is that the cells do not survive long enough to break through the tumor’s protective environment. They also fail to kill every tumor cell, so the remaining cancer cells can mutate and return.

The four-year project will be carried out at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University. It focuses on the baseline activity of CAR-T cells, known as tonic signaling. The researchers believe that CAR-T cells targeting solid tumors need a balanced level of this activity to get into the tumor. They will test several CAR variants, including in models of the brain tumor glioblastoma, with the aim of developing concrete design rules for future CAR-T therapies.

Elicera expects the results to support its own work on arming CAR-T cells with its iTANK platform.

“We welcome the Swedish Research Council’s decision to fund this important research project, which will be led by Elicera’s co-founder Di Yu. The results have the potential to lead to stronger CAR-T cells with the addition of the iTANK platform, ultimately enhancing their ability to survive and reach the tumor,” says Johan Liwing, CEO, Elicera Therapeutics.