TScan identifies CD8+ T cell COVID-19 epitopes, plus T3 gears up for Phase I of bacterial cancer therapy, a wearable device to monitor PK and a COVID-19 vaccine

SARS-CoV-2 binding sites for cytotoxic T cells
TScan Therapeutics Inc. reported in medRxiv that memory CD8⁺ T cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 are dominated by a few epitopes in SARS-CoV-2. An analysis of samples from convalescent COVID-19 patients identified 29 CD8⁺ T cell epitopes shared across the six most prevalent HLA types. Each HLA type had a core set of three to eight immunodominant epitopes from the set of 29 shared recognition sites; and 94% of donors had T cells that recognized at least one of the three most dominant epitopes for each HLA type. Only three of the 29 shared epitopes are in the spike, pointing to the remaining 26 as new targets for vaccine developers seeking to induce CD8⁺ T cell responses.

T3 Pharma sending solid tumor therapy into clinic
T3 Pharmaceuticals AG has raised over CHF25 million ($26.8 million) in its third venture round to advance its lead candidate, T3P-Y058-739, through clinical studies. The therapy consists of live bacteria engineered to inject therapeutic proteins into tumor cells via the Type III secretion system. T3 plans to being a Phase I/II study to treat solid tumors in early 2021. ...