ASX Health Stocks: CAR T therapy breakthrough? Arovella signs deal to advance CAR-iNKT platform

A new deal will allow Arovella Therapeutics to use a novel ‘anchoring’ therapy to reduce the side effects and toxicity of a potent anti-cancer drug.

New tech is designed to allow killer cells to target cancers, without causing a great many nasty side effects. Picture: iStock

A new deal will allow Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA) to use a novel “anchoring” therapy to reduce the side effects and toxicity of a potent anti-cancer drug.

Arovella has entered into a global, exclusive licence with University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to incorporate its novel armouring cytokine technology (IL-12-TM) for the CAR-iNKT (cancer-killing) cell platform.

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IL-12-TM is a modified version of the human cytokine, interleukin 12 (IL-12), which is considered the ideal candidate for human tumour immunotherapy.

However, side effects associated with IL-12 have limited its use as a stand-alone therapeutic.

The UNC Lineberger has worked on modifying IL-12-TM to include a “membrane anchor’, which keeps the IL-12 attached to the CARiNKT cell, and prevents it from circulating freely in the patient’s bloodstream.

This enables the IL-12-TM to have the desired effect on the CAR-iNKT cell, and reduces the risk of off-target effects and toxicity.

The technology was developed by Professor Gianpietro Dotti, a pioneer of CARiNKT cells, and was recently published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications.

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When the IL-12-TM technology was tested on mice with neuroblastoma, and the mice were assessed four weeks after dosing, investigators found that there were more than 10 times as many CAR-iNKT cells containing IL-12-TM in the bloodstream than CAR-iNKT cells that did not contain IL-12.

Investigators also found that about 75 per cent of the mice were still alive 60 days after treatment for the IL-12-TM group, while all mice in the group treated only with CAR-iNKT cells lacking IL-12 had died.

Arovella said the licence agreement announced on Tuesday had no immediate material financial impact on the company.

Nevertheless, at 2.30pm (AEDT), ALA’s share price was up nearly 4 per cent for the day.

In addition to this study, Arovella continues to work with Imugene (ASX:IMU), combing its oncolytic virus platform, CF33, with Arovella’s ALA101 drug.

The company believes incorporating IL-12-TM may provide improved activity against a range of solid tumours for this collaboration.

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Invion awaits HREC approval

Invion (ASX:IVX) jumped 25 per cent on Tuesday morning after reporting its quarterly activities.

That gain had halved by 2.30pm.

Invion said that during the quarter it had completed lodgement of the Phase I/II nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) trial application with the Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC).

First patient recruitment is expected in the coming months (subject to HREC approval).

In the trial, Invion said it will be using an adaptive trial design for greater flexibility to incorporate dose optimisation and efficacy signal endpoints, on top of the usual safety data.

Separately, in the oral antimicrobial space, Invion is focusing on periodontal diseases, which it says represent a significant unmet need.

This content first appeared on stockhead.com.au

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