SITC 2016 Can Nektar Boost Checkpoint Performance
National Harbor, MD
The range of different types of cancer immunotherapies in the clinic now is fairly broad, with many promising approaches being evaluated.
Cytokines, despite their initial challenges with toxicities, are an essential pillar of this approach, along with checkpoint inhibitors and agonists, adoptive T cell therapy, and now even neoantigen approaches and cancer vaccines.
Nektar Therapeutics ($NKTR) are developing two intriguing immuno-oncology compounds based on cytokines, which are in early development called NKTR–214 and NKTR-255.
The idea behind this approach is that they are immuno-stimulatory therapies designed to expand T cells and Natural Killer (NK) cells directly in the tumour microenvironment, thereby increasing expression of PD-1 on these immune cells. Subsequent checkpoint therapy could potentially be made more effective. We already know that those patients with few or no T cells are less likely to respond (cold or non-inflamed tumours) so the hunt is on finding ways to address this particular challenge. Can it be done therapeutically?
Data was presented this past weekend at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC).
Was the data encouraging enough to justify further clinical development or is this a compound headed to dog drug heaven?
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