Agenda
8.30 am Coffee & Networking
9:25 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Interrogating Clinical Updates in Solid Tumors & Highlighting Future Pipeline Opportunities
9:30 am Bispecific Vγ9Vδ2-T Cell Engagers for Immunotherapy of Solid & Hematological Malignancies
Synopsis
- Discussing the design and preclinical work to demonstrate efficacy and safety of bispecific engagers directed against Vγ9Vδ2-T cells
- Highlighting the tri-specific properties of a CD1d-Vδ2 bispecific T cell engager
- Presentation of early clinical and pharmacodynamics data from phase 1 programs
10:00 am Deep-Diving into the Clinical Impacts of Different Targeted Approaches to Target Solid Tumors
Synopsis
- Combination therapy approaches with gamma delta T cells to enhance killing in solid tumors – chemotherapy, engagers, antibodies
- Clinical data from INB-200 Phase 1 trial in GBM and Phase 2 design
- Targeting to solid tumors without inhibiting natural killing ability through the use of non-signaling gamma delta T cell technology
- Dosing strategy for gamma delta T cells in solid tumors, repeat, local and systemic dosing
- Highlighting the variation in dose requirements and resulting cell therapy dosage for different tumor type
10:30 am Morning Refreshments & Networking
Research & Translational Development
Supercharging Homing, Targeting, & Immune Surveillance to Efficiently Clear Solid Tumors
11:00 am Leveraging Antibodies to Target Gamma Delta Mediated Immunosuppression to Battle Tumors
Synopsis
- Understanding how inflammatory processes drive immunosuppression through gamma delta T cells in the tumor microenvironment
- Leveraging the activity of monoclonal antibodies to inhibit immunosuppression in pancreatic cancer and other solid tumors
- Exploring gamma delta activation mechanisms and how they can modulate other T cell mechanisms
11:30 am Evaluating Toxicology and Tracking the Migration of CAR-Engineered Gamma Delta T Cells to the Tumor Site for Biodistribution Studies
Synopsis
- Tracking the in vivo localization of gamma delta T cells, demonstrating tumor infiltration, and analyzing PK/PD data in vivo
- Boosting the activation and cytotoxicity at the site through combination therapy
- Developing toxicology analysis of gamma delta CAR T cells for IND-enabling studies
12:00 pm Roundtable: Comparing the Therapeutic Responses to Gamma Delta T Cells vs. Alpha Beta Cell to Demonstrate Greater Clinical Efficacy to Stakeholder
Synopsis
- In this session we will collaborate to explore the physiological impacts of therapies, considering changes in the tumor microenvironment, anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory cytokines and cell types within the tumor. We will brainstorm to elucidate the best practices when demonstrating clinical efficacy of gamma delta therapies over the alpha beta approach.
Clinical & Product Optimization
Expanding & Engineering Gamma Delta T Cells to Maximize Persistence
11:00 am Benchmarking Differences in Expansion Protocols for Different Gamma Delta-Derived Subtypes to Tailor Manufacturing Protocols to Cell Subtype
Synopsis
- Harnessing techniques to efficiently scale up cells while minimizing the impact of processing on the fragility of the cells
- Engineering in an immune cloaking element, and demonstrating expansion of engineered cells in multiple subtypes
- Balancing expansion, exhaustion, and persistence with immune cloaking technologies
11:30 am Incorporating Engineering into the Expansion Process to Minimize Cost-of-Goods & Manufacturing Turnaround Time
Synopsis
- Modifying cells in the expansion process to enhance biological function
- Defining scalable, cost-effective manufacturing procedures to ensure that there is enough engineered product or enough to combine with antibodies
- Streamlining recharacterization of products to test viability in an iterative process
- Sharing challenges and future opportunities to incorporate engineering within other manufacturing procedures
12:00 pm Application of OptiALLO γδ T, A Novel GMPCompatible Method, for Generating Off‐the‐Shelf Allogeneic CAR γδ T Cells for Therapeutic Use
Synopsis
- Developing a proprietary vδ2 γδ T cell expansion process –OptiALLO γδ T – that eliminates the reliance on feeder cells, antibodies, microbeads, or aminobisphosphonate‐related compounds
- Understanding the OptiALLO γδ T cell process for its technical and economic potentials and clinical applications
- Producing IL‐15 armored TROP2 CAR γδ T cells for solid tumor treatment using the OptiALLO γδ T cell process.
- Evaluating the cell products in preclinical in vitro and animal studies
12.30 pm Lunch & Networking
Research & Translational Development
Modulating Gamma Delta T Mechanisms of Action to Target Solid Tumors
1:30 pm Virtual Talk: Characterizing Human Vδ1+ and Vδ2+ γδ T Cells to Advance Tumor Immunotherapy Development
Synopsis
- Understanding the role of TCR vs NK2G receptors in mediating cytotoxic function to identify the most efficacious checkpoint therapy
- Harnessing the synergy or negative regulation of receptor signalling between subsets to maximize therapeutic potential
- Assessing the impact of TCR selectivity due to HLA matching to prevent the patient pool from narrowing
2:00 pm Panel Discussion: The Great Debate – Vδ1 vs. Vδ2 & Beyond. Which Will Win, Where, and Why?
Synopsis
- Outlining the breadth of gamma delta T subsets
- Considering existing preclinical and preclinical data for different subsets, and factors influencing their success
- Debating the use of subsets independently vs. in combination, and how our understanding of subset mechanisms can inform drug development
2:45 pm Redirecting T Cells to Gamma Delta Ligands for Improved Tumor Trafficking
Synopsis
- Outlining the Immunocore Platform
- Understanding the role of gamma delta in tumors, and reviewing clinical learnings
- Demonstrating proof of principle of T cell redirection via Vδ2 Vγ9-ImmTAC molecules
Clinical & Product Optimization
Gauging Potency & Product Purity to Secure High Quality, Regulatory Approved Clinical Products
1:30 pm Robustly Measuring Repertoire & Potency of Optimally Expanded Gamma Delta TILs for Gastrointestinal Malignancies
Synopsis
- Measuring the diversity of gamma delta t cell subsets to review possible mechanisms of action and characterize products
- Optimizing expansion by adjusting reagents, cytokines and antibodies to scale up high-quality cell products
- Identifying and mitigating areas for error in potency assays to achieve consistency of readout
2:00 pm Panel Discussion: What Constitutes a Good Measure of Purity, Potency & Identity?
Synopsis
- Discussing current measures for purity, potency and identity used for gamma deltas and their compliance with regulatory requirements
- Assessing the differences in characterization measures between gamma deltas and alpha betas
- Laying out steps towards analytical, process development, and manufacturing of pure and potent gamma delta T cells in a single entity
2:45 pm Considerations & Strategies for γδ T Cell Expansion & Opportunities for Intervening γδ T Cell Exhaustion
Synopsis
- Considerations and strategies for T cell expansion
- Overview of current γδ T cell expansion strategies in the field
- Opportunities for intervention of γδ T cell exhaustion
3.15 pm Afternoon Refreshments & Networking
Next Steps in Gamma Delta T Development
3:45 pm Taking a Proactive & Strategic Approach when Attracting, Developing, & Retaining Talent
Synopsis
- Exploring challenges facing cell and gene therapy industry leaders from a people and culture perspective
- Understanding and enhancing the employee value proposition
- Providing practical takeaways you can implement regardless of role or level
4:15 pm Panel Discussion: Discussing the Application & Opportunities to Progress Gamma Delta T Therapies in a Competitive Therapeutic Landscape
Synopsis
- Discussing opportunities and challenges to achieve investor, physician, and pharmaceutical industry buy-in to progress to commercialization
- Debating the need to embrace engineering, streamline process development and widen the patient pool to secure strong clinical results and achieve VC backing
- Developing gamma delta T-specific technologies to enhance R&D, clinical translation, and process development to advance through the pipeline
- Sharing VC perspectives on the gamma delta T landscape and elucidating what needs to be demonstrated to secure investment
4:45 pm Engineering Allogeneic Gamma Delta T Cell Therapies: Opportunities & Challenges, Present & Tomorrow
Synopsis
- Exploring the specific challenges of approved CD3 engagers, to pinpoint gaps for gamma delta T to help, such as cytotoxicity
- Reviewing successes and lessons from other adoptive cell therapies and the potential for enhanced safety profiles, scalability, and indication-specific development with gamma delta T
- Discussing the future challenges to predict and remove obstacles to progress gamma delta T cell therapy development