Project dashboard: Catalyst Program

NOVEL ANTI-TUMOUR ANTIBODIES ISOLATED FROM CANCER PATIENT IMMUNE B-CELL REPERTOIRES

 

July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

nelson-catalyst-name
  • Provides potent antibodies for use by proprietary Canadian technology that produces antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs)
  • Capitalizes on a superior method for deriving antibodies, beyond the conventional vaccination of mice.

 

babcook-catalyst-numbers

 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

 

Research has shown that cancer patients who generate a natural immune response to their tumours have better survival rates. Although our immune system can produce antibodies that target cancer-specific antigens (proteins expressed by a cancer), they are often too few or not potent enough to have a therapeutic impact. However, such antibodies have the potential to be very effective tumour-targeting therapeutics.
 
Dr. Nelson’s team has developed a way to cultivate natural antibodies directly from the B cells of cancer patients. B cells are the immune cells that produce antibodies, and the repertoire of antibodies they produce varies from person to person. As well, patients undergoing oncolytic virus therapy often produce antibodies that can bind to and kill tumour cells. This project proposes to use antibody-cloning technology to isolate the B cell antibody repertoires from ovarian cancer patients and from patients who have undergone oncolytic virus therapy in the Maraba oncolytic vaccine trial. It is expected that the isolated antibodies will have exquisite tumour-targeting properties that can be further enhanced with Dr. Nelson’s proprietary technology for turning them into antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) by arming them with anti-cancer toxins.
 
By isolating a repertoire of antibodies directly from human cancer patients, this method significantly improves upon the current technique of deriving antibodies through the vaccination of mice.

 

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATORS

 

  • Dr. Brad Nelson, BC Cancer Agency, University of British Columbia
  • Dr. John Bell, The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa

 

nelson-catalyst-map
nelson-babcook-timeline

 

Keywords: antibody-drug conjugate, ADC, B cells, TILs, tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes
 
Eligible cancers: anal, bladder, breast, cervical, colon, esophageal, kidney, liver, lung, melanoma, mouth, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, stomach, uterine
 
Partners: BC Cancer Agency, Kairos Therapeutics, The Ottawa Hospital