Abstract

Adoptive cell therapy has arisen as a novel treatment for B cell malignancies, however, its clinical and commercial success still presents considerable challenges in accessibility for patients and questions regarding the bypassing of patients’ immune systems. In the pursuit of next-generation products, the field continues to explore the therapeutic potential of different immune cell types, sub-types and the numerous modifications necessary to improve the efficacy, safety and scalability of treatments, as well as expand application into solid tumors. The advent of cellular reprogramming as a source of clinically valuable immune cell types is likely to address many of the scalability challenges associated with the current autologous approaches, however, with the power to produce and maintain any cell type from any other, the question remains, how do we translate these into viable cell and gene therapies.

In this session we explore the immuno-oncology landscape, review current developmental trends and provide an update on the translation of our systematic approach to cellular reprogramming, either ex vivo or in vivo, into transformative therapies for oncology and other disease areas with high unmet clinical need.