Tool for screening immune therapeutics; bench mark therapeutics in an immune check point inhibitor (Pembrolizumab) sensitive assay or ADCC
The 11th annual Immuno-Oncology 360° Summit took place in Boston this year, a first after being held in the New York City for the past eight years. A fitting move, as Boston continues to strengthen its position as a leading biotech hub. With a packed three day agenda, IO360 brought together experts from across the immuno-oncology space, with experts working in pre-clinical to clinical research, regulatory affairs, business development and finance.
The event highlighted the next wave of innovation in IO, from new emerging cancer immunotherapy data, as well as new tools that help accelerate therapeutic development. While IO remained the central focus, pipeline diversification was also discussed, reflecting how learnings from cancer immunotherapy development can be applied to autoimmunity therapeutics.
Highlights from the event:
Crystal Mackall winning the Lifetime Achievement award, and delivering the keynote talk ‘Evolution and Future Directions in Cell Therapy – Overcoming Challenges and Pioneering Innovations’.
William Ho – Cell therapy for Autoimmunity/Be Biopharma. While the main focus of the conference was IO, Dr Ho gave a good overview of how IO companies are diversifying their pipelines to I&I.
Craig C. Suvannavejh, PhD – The Biotech Markets and IO Outlook. Amidst all the science, this specific talk gave good insight into the current state of the biotech market, as well as future considerations.
Key takeaways:
- Many experts voiced concern for the industry, citing widespread layoffs at CDC, NIH and FDA, and raising questions about how the reduced capacity at these agencies impact new drugs getting approved and to the patients.
- At the same time, many noted a rise in investment for companies developing immuno-oncology, expressing optimism for the future. The unmet medical need remains high – not only in cancer, but also across autoimmune and other complex disease. Significant advances are being made, from discovery of novel targets and MoAs, to innovative therapeutics, and technologies that accelerate drug development timelines – all of which contribute to more investor interest and momentum in the field.
- With IO being the topic, one area where all agreed was that combination strategies are the future. With efficacy of monotherapies being a concern, the combinational approach will hopefully be key.
IO360 was a productive, insightful and energising experience. It provided us the perfect opportunity to see where the field is heading and see the transition between early stage research and clinical execution.
A huge thank you to The Conference Forum and IO360 for organising an insightful and well-run event. We look forward to attending again next year.
At Nexus BioQuest, our scientists are experts in NK cell biology and offer a comprehensive suite of assays to test novel therapeutics. View our case study to see how NK cell driven ADCC is being developed for oncology and autoimmunity; targeting either unwanted tumour cells or autoreactive immune cells.
We recently started a new scientific initiative with the super catchy name of “speed science” which does what it says on the tin- our scientists get 10 minutes to present an immunology topic of their choice, this can be a project they are working on, a paper or a technology. This was inspired by the 3-minute thesis concept. We’ve found speed science provides a good work out for the brain as the presenter needs to be clear, concise and focused with their messaging. Our aim with this initiative is to challenge and improve our science communication skills, to inspire curiosity and to increase the diversity of immunology knowledge within the team; working towards our company values of curiosity and drive. We look forward to sharing some of the topics the team have enjoyed discussing over the coming weeks and in the meantime we challenge you to give it a go and test your science communication skills! Rhiannon Jenkinson, CSO
How did you celebrate International Day of Immunology? At Nexus BioQuest we celebrated our favorite immune cell. It has been fun to hear from our collaborators what their favorite immune cell is and why?
Macrophages are highly plastic and can differentiate into a range of activated phenotypes driven by external signals under various disease conditions. Therapeutic driven modulation of macrophage phenotype has the potential to modulate many different disease types where macrophage play a key role in either driving or regulating disease. We present here a range of macrophage polarisation conditions that model macrophage phenotypes found in different disease states run in 96 well or 384 well screening mode.
Dr Rhiannon Jenkinson (CSO) and Jody Sawyer (VP of Business Development) showcased our services spanning preclinical screening, efficacy, translational models, predictive immunotoxicology and clinical Biomarkers, within the IO, Autoimmunity and Inflammatory space. Connecting with our current clients and meeting new ones. We will be back in 2024, continuing to support companies within the west coast Biotech hubs. Watch our Events page to see when we are visiting or Contact Us in the meantime to see how we can help.
Dr Rhiannon Jenkinson (CSO) and Jody Sawyer (VP of Business Development) had a fantastic time at the IO conference in Boston, meeting with current clients and new companies. After spending time at the conference, visiting the Boston Biotech hub and dining with clients the Nexus BioQuest team were extremely grateful for the fruitful discussions and excited about future collaborations. The Nexus Team will be back in Boston in early 2024 to visit clients and later in the year for the Special AACR conference, see more on our Events page. If you are interested in meeting the team in March 2024 Contact Us
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