LIfT BioSciences Awarded Innovate UK Grant to Accelerate Product Development of
New IMAN Cell Therapy Variants
* Groundbreaking in vivo studies will be progressed to explore the impact of
IMAN cell therapies in solid tumour and immunology models uniquely available
at the Saeb-Parsy Lab at the University of Cambridge
London, 16 May 2024 - LIfT BioSciences, ('LIfT' or 'the Company'), a rapidly
emerging biotech company about to start clinical trials for its first-in-class
allogeneic innate cell therapy, today announces it has been awarded a grant of
over one million pounds from Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency. The grant
will enable LIfT to show for the first time, how its immunomodulatory alpha
neutrophils (IMANs) recruit immune cells in vivo to attack tumours using a new
type of translational humanised mouse model suitable for human neutrophils. The
new in vivo model will enable LIfT to rapidly assess the potential of different,
new, product variants, tumour types and combination therapies prior to putting
them into path to the clinic, thereby accelerating the development of LIfT's
IMAN cell therapy pipeline for the treatment of solid tumours and auto-immune
disease.
The Innovate UK grant will fund a unique, world-class industry-academia
collaboration between LIfT Biosciences and the world-leading Saeb-Parsy Lab
(SPL) at the University of Cambridge, with the aim of investigating the impact
of LIfT's IMAN cell therapies in solid tumour and immunology indications using
the cutting-edge humanised in vivo model systems developed at SPL.
SPL has developed and optimized cutting-edge tumour-bearing humanised mice which
are essential for true modelling of IMAN safety and efficacy. Data generated
from this collaboration will be integral for the better understanding of the
mechanism of action (MoA) of IMANs and its potential for combination approaches
in solid tumours and immunology, enabling LIfT to investigate its
immunomodulatory and cytotoxic mechanisms.
IMANs' ability to modulate the hostile solid tumour microenvironment (TME) is
fundamental to their MoA. Standard in vivo tumour models in immunodeficient mice
lack the necessary human immune system components to investigate recipient
immunomodulation, underplaying the effectiveness of cell therapy modalities by
only assaying direct cytotoxicity. SPL's humanised models use xenografted
patient-derived tumour material (PDX), which allows a closer approximation of
tumour architecture and component subsets that comprise the solid TME, more
closely representing the modelling of the TME as would be encountered during
human clinical trials. Of particular interest is how IMANs recruit and activate
T-Cells and NK cells, and work with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) on the
Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC) pathway to deliver antitumor
antibody efficacy through lethal trogocytosis.
Alex Blyth, Chief Executive Officer of LIfT BioSciences, commented: "The
awarding of this grant from Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency, is an
exciting step that will help expedite our pipeline of new products and their
combinations into the clinic and will improve outcomes through the foresight it
provides. Current standard mouse models do not have the right chemokines and
growth factors to support human neutrophils optimally. Tumour-bearing humanised
mice that have been adapted to support human neutrophils are therefore very
useful for more accurate modelling of the effects of neutrophils for early
insights into what we might see in human trials. We will now conduct
groundbreaking in vivo studies to explore the impact of IMAN cell therapies in
solid tumour and immunology models uniquely available at the Saeb-Parsy Lab."
Kourosh Saeb-Parsy, Professor of Transplantation at the Department of Surgery at
University of Cambridge, commented: "LIfT's IMANs have a unique multimodal
mechanism of action which suggests they have the potential to overcome the
limitations of current immunotherapies in solid tumours. Our group has
developed and optimized cutting-edge humanised in vivo solid tumour models which
are particularly suited for investigation of therapeutics with immunomodulatory
properties, such as IMANs. We are very excited to be working with LIfT on this
project and are grateful for this funding from Innovate UK."
LIfT is developing its ground-breaking patented IMAN product as an allogeneic
cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumours. IMANs have the capacity to
directly kill tumour cells in an innate antigen-independent manner while
recruiting and immunomodulating host immune effector cells such as T cells and
NK cells, to give a durable response and long-lasting anti-tumour immunity.
LIfT's IMANs are generated using LIfT's proprietary Neutrophil-based Leukocyte
Infusion Therapy (N-LIfT) platform, with future iPSC-derived and gene engineered
products in the pipeline.
-End-
About LIfT BioSciences
LIfT BioSciences is a biotech bringing to market a first-in-class alpha
neutrophil cell therapy that overcomes the limitations of current therapies in
solid tumours by destroying tumours both directly and indirectly. LIfT's
Immunomodulatory Alpha Neutrophils (IMANs) turn the tumour microenvironment
against the tumour as they recruit the rest of the immune system to destroy the
tumour to give a durable response and lasting immunity. The patented
breakthrough N-LIfT platform is produced from a patented process using
exceptional stem cells (iPSC or HSC), a proprietary enhancement media and
genetic engineering (e.g. CARs).
LIfT is working towards expanding LIfT's immunomodulatory therapy approach into
other therapeutical areas such as immunology, neurology and antimicrobial
resistance. LIfT is committed to delivering complete remission in high unmet
need solid tumours before the decade is out. LIfT BioSciences was founded by
Alex Blyth following the death of his mother to pancreatic cancer. See
www.liftbiosciences.com.
Further information
Investors & Media:
Alex Blyth
ablyth@LIfTBioSciences.com
(mailto:ablyth@LIfTBioSciences.com)
ICR Consilium
Mary-Jane Elliott,
Namrata Taak, Lindsey
Neville +44 (0)7718 759116 liftbiosciences@consilium-comms.com
Â