Mnemo Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing transformational immunotherapies, announced the kick-off of their participation in the prestigious Hospital-University Research in Health (RHU) program. Designed by France’s National Research Agency, the RHU funding supports cutting-edge research and cross-institutional collaborations, bringing together academia, businesses, and hospitals to push the boundaries of what is possible in healthcare.
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In December of 2021, 17 proposals were selected for the RHU funding. Among them, receiving close to 10 million euros, is the EpCART project. Under the leadership of Sebastian Amigorena, Ph.D., one of Mnemo’s scientific co-founders and head of the Immune Responses and Cancer Team at Institut Curie, the EpCART project aims to clinically validate a novel approach to CAR-T immunotherapy.
“We are honored to be named a laureate for this prestigious initiative and work alongside our long-standing partners at Institut Curie, as well as the MEARY Cell and Gene Therapy Center at Saint-Louis Hospital, AP-HP,” said Mnemo CEO, Robert LaCaze.
The EpCART project focuses on epigenetic reprogramming of CAR-T cells. Through the inactivation of SUV39H1, a key enzyme in the differentiation pathway of T cells, the memory phenotype of these cells can be greatly increased. This works to achieve long-lasting tumor control, addressing patient relapse.
“Current immuno-oncology therapies often suffer from immune-cell memory loss, causing therapies to become less active and persistent in their ability to attack cancer cells over time,” said Dr. Amigorena. “The EpCART project mines insights into the memory of the immune system to overcome this challenge and produce a new class of CAR-T therapies with enhanced memory and persistence. We believe this will drive more durable responses for cancer patients.”
Over the next five years, the EpCART project will seek to clinically validate this technology as an autologous therapy. Mnemo will work in collaboration with the other EpCART partners to conduct a Phase I-II clinical trial, investigating the activity of these innovative CAR-T therapies in a cohort of 35 patients with difficult-to-treat solid tumors.
The EpCART project will accelerate research on Mnemo’s EnfiniT Discovery Engine, an integrated drug discovery tool combining key technologies to create lasting immune memory, identify novel cancer-specific targets, and more.