EDIT-202 / Editas Medicine, Bayer, Shoreline Biosci - LARVOL DELTA

Editas Medicine and Shoreline Biosciences Enter into Definitive Agreement for Shoreline to Acquire Editas’ iNK Cell Franchise and Related Gene Editing Technologies (GlobeNewswire) - "Editas Medicine...announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Shoreline Biosciences (Shoreline) for Shoreline to license Editas Medicine’s proprietary SLEEK (SeLection by Essential-gene Exon Knock-in) and AsCas12a gene editing technologies and acquire Editas Medicine’s preclinical gene edited induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived natural killer cell (iNK) programs and related manufacturing technologies....Under the terms of the agreement, Shoreline will obtain an exclusive license to Editas Medicine’s interest in SLEEK gene editing knock-in technology for use in Shoreline’s iNK platform and for oncology in its iMACs platform, and on a non-exclusive basis for iMACs in other indications....As part of the transaction, Shoreline will acquire EDIT-202, Editas Medicine’s preclinical multiplexed edited iNK cell medicine for the potential treatment of solid tumors, as well as an additional iNK program..."

Licensing / partnership • Oncology • Solid Tumor

EDIT-202, a multiplexed AsCas12a edited iPSC differentiated iNK, displays a mature phenotype, high KIR expression, and ADCC towards multiple solid tumor lines. (SITC 2022) - "When combined with cetuximab (anti-EGFR antibody) against HNSCC and NSCLC, or with trastuzumab (anti-HER-2 antibody) against gastric cancer cells, EDIT-202 showed an approximately 10-fold increase in IFN-γ secretion compared with an EDIT-202 alone control. Conclusions In conclusion, iPSC derived NK cells (iNK) have the unique advantage of being an off-the-shelf, and fully characterizable cell therapy amenable to multiplexed gene editing to enhance anti-tumor activity. EDIT-202 demonstrates a mature phenotype which translates to a highly potent and persistent iNK cell for potential treatment of multiple solid tumor types."

IO biomarker • Gastric Cancer • Gastrointestinal Cancer • Head and Neck Cancer • Hematological Malignancies • Lung Cancer • Non Small Cell Lung Cancer • Oncology • Ovarian Cancer • Solid Tumor • Squamous Cell Carcinoma • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck • GZMB • IFNG • IL15 • PRF1 • TGFB1

EDIT-202, an AsCas12a and SLEEK™ gene-edited iPSC-derived NK cell therapy maintains prolonged persistence, high cytotoxicity and enhanced in vivo control of solid tumors (ESGCT 2022) - No abstract available

Preclinical • Oncology • Solid Tumor

SLEEK: A Method for Highly Efficient Knock-in and Expression of Transgene Cargos for Next-generation Cell-based Medicines (ASGCT 2022) - "These properties have led us to use SLEEK in EDIT-202, our first iPSC-derived NK (iNK) cell oncology program. Taken together, SLEEK has the potential to be the strategy of choice for achieving robust multi-transgene knock-in for the next generation of cell-based medicines."

Oncology • GAPDH

EDIT-202, a Multiplexed CRISPR-Cas12a Gene-Edited iPSC-Derived NK Cell Therapy Has Prolonged Persistence, Promotes High Cytotoxicity, and Enhances In Vivo Tumor Killing (ASGCT 2022) - "Tumor bearing mice were treated with an isotype control, trastuzumab alone, WT, or EDIT-202 iNKs in combination with trastuzumab. In summary, in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that CISH and TGFβR2 DKO and CD16 and mbIL-15 DKI resulted in an iNK cell product that is highly potent against multiple solid tumor types, long-lasting, and capable of resisting TGF-β-mediated immune suppression. These data support the development of EDIT-202 as a potential allogeneic cell-based medicine for treating solid tumors."

IO biomarker • Preclinical • Oncology • Ovarian Cancer • Solid Tumor • HER-2 • IL15 • TGFB1 • TGFBR2

Editas Medicine to Present Pipeline and Platform Data Demonstrating Progress Towards Developing Transformative Gene Editing Medicines at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual Meeting (GlobeNewswire) - "Key Editas Medicine presentations at ASGCT include: Preclinical data on EDIT-202 demonstrating maintained expression levels of CD16 and mbIL15, prolonged persistence in the absence of exogeneous cytokines and significantly enhanced anti-tumor efficacy in an in vivo solid tumor model..."

Preclinical • Oncology • Solid Tumor

Editas Medicine Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Results and Business Updates (GlobeNewswire) - "Editas Medicine expects to advance this therapy in preclinical development during 2022. Additional in vitro and in vivo preclinical data supporting the development of EDIT-202 as a potential allogeneic cell-based medicine for treating solid tumors will be presented at the next American Associate for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting....The ongoing collaboration between Editas Medicine and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) continues to advance alpha-beta T cell medicines for the treatment of solid and liquid tumors..."

Preclinical • Oncology • Solid Tumor

Deletion of CISH and TGFβR2 in iPSC-Derived NK Cells Promotes High Cytotoxicity and Enhances In Vivo Tumor Killing (ASH 2021) - "NK cells are typically isolated from either cord blood or peripheral blood of healthy donors, but recent advances with induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) allows a nearly unlimited supply of iPSC-derived natural killer cells (iNK)...Together, the increased overall effector function of TGF β R2 -/- / CISH -/- DKO human iNK cells support their development as a potent allogeneic cell-based medicine for cancer. This potential medicine is being investigated with other gene edits for future advancement to clinic."

Preclinical • Oncology • Ovarian Cancer • Solid Tumor • IFNG • IL15 • IL2 • TGFB1 • TGFBR2 • TNFA

Editas Medicine Reports Preclinical Data Demonstrating Robust Tumor Reduction and Clearance Using Novel, Engineered iNK Cells at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (GlobeNewswire) - "DKI iNK cells, as monotherapy or in combination with trastuzumab, showed significantly enhanced tumor killing compared with wild type (WT) iNKs in an in vitro 3D SKOV-3 ovarian tumor spheroid assay....The DKO iNK cells also induced significant reduction in tumor burden compared with WT iNK treatment when tested in vivo in a SKOV-3 ovarian cancer mouse model."

Preclinical • Genito-urinary Cancer • Gynecologic Cancers • Oncology • Ovarian Cancer

Editas Medicine Presents Preclinical Data on Novel Engineered iPSC-derived NK Cells for the Treatment of Cancer at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 36th Annual Meeting (GlobeNewswire) - "In the presentation, the Company showed a new method to achieve high-levels of expression of CD16 and Interleukin-15 (IL-15) in iNK cells by using the Company’s proprietary CRISPR/Cas12a-mediated SLEEK (SeLection by Essential-gene Exon Knock-in) technology to simultaneously knock-in both functional genes. The modifications resulted in improved serial tumor killing and dramatically increased NK cell persistence....Together, these data provide strong support for the continued development of engineered iPSC derived iNK cells as a potential novel class of therapeutics targeting solid tumors."

Preclinical • Oncology • Solid Tumor

Editas Medicine Announces Second Quarter 2021 Results and Business Updates (GlobeNewswire) - "Edited iPSC NK (iNK) Cell Medicines to Treat Solid Tumors: Advancing preclinical studies towards multiplexed edited product. Editas Medicine is continuing to advance preclinical studies for a highly differentiated, iPSC-derived natural killer (NK) cell medicine. The Company is optimizing editing configurations for corresponding clinical targets. The finalized product candidate will include multiple edits, for which the Company has previously demonstrated high levels of multiplexed editing efficiency."

Preclinical • Oncology • Solid Tumor