In Vivo CAR T-Cell Therapeutics With Umoja Biopharma's Dr. Andrew Scharenberg

Emojia Biopharma's Mission and Focus

Emojia Biopharma, founded in 2019, aims to make car T cell therapies more accessible to a larger number of patients. The current process of delivering car T cell therapies involves a complex logistical procedure, which includes collecting T cells from a patient, shipping them to a central manufacturing facility for engineering, and then bringing them back to the patient. To simplify this process, Emojia Biopharma has developed lenniviral vector technology that can be delivered directly to the patient, allowing their body to perform all the manufacturing. This approach resembles a synthetic immune response or a genetic vaccine.

Advantages of In Vivo CAR T Cell Therapies

Emojia Biopharma's focus is on developing in vivo CAR T cell therapies, which eliminate the need for complex ex vivo processes. Ex vivo CAR T cell therapies require collecting T cells from patients, shipping them to a manufacturing facility, modifying the cells, and then re-administering them to the patients, often in combination with lymphodepleting chemotherapy. In contrast, in vivo CAR T cell therapies directly deliver the CAR T cells to the patient's body, simplifying the process and potentially improving the patient experience. By eliminating the need for a central manufacturing facility, in vivo therapies can be made more accessible and cost-effective.

Emojia's ISO Platform for Off-the-Shelf Cell Products

Emojia Biopharma has developed the ISO platform, which stands for induced cytotoxic innate lymphocytes. ISO cells are derived from pluripotent stem cells and engineered to act as off-the-shelf cell products. These cells are adapted to target tumors, and their large-scale production is cost-effective. The ISO platform aims to provide a solution for patients with weakened immune function due to chemotherapy or cancer where their own immune cells are not as effective. By delivering off-the-shelf cell products, Emojia Biopharma aims to enhance patient responses and simplify the treatment process.

Progress and Potential of Emojia's In Vivo Program

Emojia Biopharma recently shared promising non-human primate data from their in vivo program, which involves delivering a VBOVEC drug product that encodes a chimeric antigen receptor targeting CD20. The data demonstrated robust and consistent responses, with rapid depletion of target cells and expansion of CAR T cells. Additionally, a potential memory T-cell response was observed, showing promise for long-term tumor control. These results are encouraging and suggest the potential of Emojia's in vivo approach to surpass the capabilities of traditional ex vivo CAR T cell therapies. Emojia aims to further develop and validate their in vivo program through clinical trials in the near future.

Cell & Gene: The Podcast

In Vivo CAR T-Cell Therapeutics With Umoja Biopharma's Dr. Andrew Scharenberg

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Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Emojia Biopharma's Mission and Focus

Advantages of In Vivo CAR T Cell Therapies

Emojia's ISO Platform for Off-the-Shelf Cell Products

Progress and Potential of Emojia's In Vivo Program

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