Agonizing cancer immunotherapy

Lycera Corp. is aiming to enter the increasingly competitive cancer immunotherapy space with oral small molecules that appear to be the first to simultaneously boost antitumor T cells and release the brakes on the immune system. If preclinical findings are borne out in the clinic, the molecules have the potential to augment - or even replace - PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitors. They may also have synergy with adoptive cell therapies.

The molecules are the only disclosed agonists of RORgammaT. RORgammaT, also known as RAR-related orphan receptor C thymus-specific isoform, drives the activation and differentiation of CD4+ and CD8+ cells into IL-17-producing T helper type 17 (Th17) cells and cytotoxic Tc17 cells. Th17 and Tc17 are effector cells that promote inflammation, adaptive immunity and autoimmunity by producing IL-17 and other inflammatory cytokines such as IL-21...