Abstract

The recent FDA admission of the first CAR-T therapies and the tremendous success of checkpoint inhibitor therapies have sparked great interest in immunooncology. At Aelian, we combine CRISPR screening with single-cell RNA sequencing, a workflow developed in the academic lab of Aelian co-founder and CeMM principle investigator Christoph Bock. To identify novel targets for immunotherapy, Aelian has implemented a CRISPR screening platform in primary human T cells. It allows the distinction of various T cell subsets based on their transcriptomic phenotype. In a first proof-of-concept experiment, Aelian has screened more than 100.000 primary human T cells, aiming to recapitulate phenotypes of established receptors and signalling intermediates. Going forward, Aelian is looking for partners that will utilize Aelian’s immunooncology platform for the identification and validation of novel drug targets for immunotherapy.