Andrew Tsourkas | Bioengineering Professor
University of Pennsylvania

Festival of Biologics Day 1 @ 14:20

Personalized T cell recruiting bispecific antibodies for treating cancer

Bispecific antibodies (BiAbs) represent a transformative advance in cancer immunotherapy, enabling T cells to be redirected to target tumor cells with remarkable specificity and efficacy. BiAbs have been found to induce tumor regression at doses that can be a thousand-fold lower than conventional monoclonal antibody therapy. However, their general dependence on the expression of a single target antigen can limit their use, leaving many patients without viable treatment options. Moreover, the efficacy of BiAbs can be hindered by the heterogeneity of antigen expression in tumors and the potential loss of target antigens during disease progression. To address these challenges, we developed T cell-redirecting autoantibodies (TRAAbs), which leverage the unique tumor-specific autoantibody repertoire naturally present in the serum of cancer patients. Autoantibodies generated in response to tumors exhibit exceptional specificity, binding to diverse tumor-associated antigens with high selectivity. However, autoantibodies alone often cannot prevent tumor growth. TRAAbs bridge this gap by converting autoantibodies into potent BiAbs capable of recruiting T cells to attack tumor cells. We believe that TRAAbs offer a paradigm shift in cancer immunotherapy, providing a highly personalized and effective treatment option for patients with otherwise intractable tumors.

Andrew Tsourkas, Bioengineering Professor, University of Pennsylvania

×

Andrew Tsourkas / Personalized T cell recruiting bispecific antibodies for treating cancer

Andrew Tsourkas, Bioengineering Professor,
University of Pennsylvania

Andrew Tsourkas, Ph.D. is a Professor and Undergraduate Chair of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania.  He received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1997 from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Georgia Tech/Emory University joint...

CloseMore