Overt Bio said it established a clinical advisory board to support the development of OVT-101, its lead investigational CAR T-cell therapy for ovarian cancer, and other programs in its pipeline.
The company said the newly formed advisory board will provide strategic guidance on clinical trial design, selection of target patient populations, and overall development strategy as the company advances OVT-101 toward early-stage clinical testing.
Each of the four members “brings deep expertise in immune therapies and solid tumor oncology, which will be critical for our success in the clinic,” Mat Legut, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Overt Bio, said in a company press release.
The advisory board members have backgrounds in both clinical care and cancer research.
They are: Kristen Hege, MD, a clinician scientist who has overseen the clinical development of immune-based therapies, including CAR T-cell treatments for blood cancers; David Miklos, MD, PhD, chief of Stanford University’s bone marrow transplant and cell therapy program; Dmitriy Zamarin, MD, PhD, section head of gynecologic medical oncology at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine; and Robert Wenham, MD, chair of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center’s department of gynecologic oncology.
Leveraging immune cells to target cancer
Ovarian cancer is a type of gynecological cancer marked by the abnormal growth of cells in or near the ovaries. Standard treatment often involves chemotherapy and, where feasible, surgery. However, cancer recurrence is common, and treatment options are limited at that stage.
CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy in which immune T-cells are collected and genetically modified in the lab to carry a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). This receptor allows them to recognize and bind to specific proteins on the surface of cancer cells. Once infused into the body, the modified T-cells can target and eliminate those tumor cells.
OVT-101 leverages a specialized subtype of immune T-cell, called gamma delta T-cells, to go after the cancer. According to the company, these cells may be better at reaching and attacking solid tumors compared with conventional CAR T-cell therapies.
The modified cells in OVT-101 are designed to recognize Claudin-6, a protein found at high levels on the majority of ovarian cancers but absent from healthy tissues. In addition to the CAR, the cells are further engineered to improve their persistence, which may support a longer-lasting effect, the company said.
Unlike traditional CAR T-cell therapies, which are made individually for each patient in a time-consuming and costly process, OVT-101 is being developed as an off-the-shelf product using gamma delta T-cells derived from healthy donors. This means the therapy could be produced in advance and given to multiple patients, potentially reducing waiting times, lowering costs, and improving access to treatment.
“Building a Clinical Advisory Board of this caliber is an important step as we translate our platform into the clinic,” said Francesco Galimi, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of Overt Bio. “Their collective experience across cellular therapies and solid tumors will be invaluable in shaping a thoughtful and efficient clinical development strategy for our programs.”
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