Cutting Edge Technologies Derived from Groundbreaking Research
As a leading allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company, Atara is pioneering the development of transformative therapies for patients with serious diseases by leveraging our novel allogeneic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) T-cell platform.
With our differentiated and flexible EBV T-cell platform using allogeneic T cells, next-generation CAR T technologies, and world-class manufacturing capabilities, Atara is well-positioned to deliver on our goal of bringing transformative therapies to patients in need.
Atara is using EBV T cells from healthy donors (allogeneic) as a platform to develop a comprehensive pipeline of investigational therapies for cancers and autoimmune diseases. EBV T cells specifically target EBV-infected cells. The natural attributes of EBV T cells offer potential benefits including a low likelihood to harm normal tissues and the ability to persist in the body long enough to fight the disease.
EBV T cells can be investigated for diseases where EBV is believed to be associated with the illness, such as certain blood cancers and multiple sclerosis (MS). They can also be modified with a gene for a specific receptor to attack targets on blood cancers and solid tumors. These receptors are called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or T-cell receptors (TCRs).
Atara is applying this EBV T-cell platform with no gene editing of the T-cell receptor to create a robust pipeline with the goal of developing treatments that improve the quality and longevity of patients’ lives. EBV-targeted T-cell immunotherapies are in development for diseases where EBV is believed to be associated with the illness, including tab-cel® for post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) and ATA188 for MS. Atara is also developing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) or T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies that are designed to retain the potential benefits of EBV T cells and are modified to express engineered receptors to target cancer cells.
Atara: A Differentiated Approach to Allogeneic Cell Therapy, with No Gene Editing of the T-Cell Receptor
Atara has a dedicated, expandable manufacturing facility with robust and scalable manufacturing processes. These manufacturing capabilities provide the flexibility to produce multiple immunotherapies with the goal of rapid delivery to patients.
As the company with the most advanced allogeneic T-cell therapy in Phase 3, Atara is positioned to be the first to successfully commercialize an allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy. Through pioneering science, teamwork, and a commitment to excellence, Atara is advancing the development of potentially transformative therapies with the goal of improving the lives of patients with serious diseases.
Pioneering the Next Generation of Allogeneic T-Cell Immunotherapies: A Novel Allogeneic EBV T-Cell Platform
The natural attributes of EBV T cells may offer benefits including a low likelihood to harm normal tissues, which may enhance tolerability and the ability to persist in the body long enough to fight the disease, offering the potential for durable response.
Developing an Immunotherapy Platform
First, what is a T cell?
A T cell is a type of white blood cell that helps protect the body from infections and may help fight cancers, autoimmune diseases and other diseases of the immune system.Why use allogeneic EBV donor T cells?
Autologous T-cell immunotherapies that use a patient’s own T cells have been used successfully, primarily in the oncology space, to treat blood cancers.
However, there are limitations associated with modifying a patient’s own T cells including potentially poor cell quality, challenges with cell collection, manufacturing and logistics, and difficulty in treating other diseases such as solid tumors. Enhanced safety and efficacy are also needed. These issues may currently limit a patient’s ability to be treated with these promising T cell therapies.
Atara’s allogeneic T cells originating from donors are generated from immune cells that have not been exposed to chemotherapy, the immune effects of cancer, or the effects of other underlying autoimmune diseases, which can result in less variability and improved cell quality.
An inventory of these EBV T cells can be manufactured and stored with the goal of rapid delivery to patients within three days (off-the-shelf).
EBV T cells are present in large quantities in donors’ blood enabling streamlined collection and scalable manufacturing.
How EBV T Cells May Be Used to Treat Disease
Using allogeneic EBV T cells for diseases associated with EBV
When the body encounters a virus, it naturally produces T cells to fight the viral infection. These cells specifically target and kill cells infected by the virus, and persist in the body following an infection, to be activated if the body encounters the virus again.
EBV is one of the most common human viruses with 90 percent of adults worldwide harboring lifelong, inactive infections, which are usually kept in check by the immune system. Once infected, cells with long-term memory are created. These cells wait to come back to fight the EBV virus when needed.
Those who have been infected, have a supply of T cells already programmed to specifically fight EBV (EBV-targeted T cells). These healthy EBV T cells can be donated by individuals, manufactured, stored as inventory, and can be available when third party patients need them.
EBV is associated with many cancers and autoimmune diseases. Our allogeneic EBV T-cell immunotherapy candidates are being investigated in a wide range of EBV-associated diseases such as lymphoproliferative diseases and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis – conditions where the patient’s own immune system is not able to adequately fight the virus. In this case, the EBV T cells are intended to directly attack the EBV-infected cells that are causing disease. Allogeneic EBV T cells from donors are being investigated as a way to replenish and enhance a patient’s natural immune function and directly target the underlying cause of EBV-associated disease.
The EBV T cells donated from individuals can be available when patients need them. The natural attributes of EBV T cells may offer benefits including a low likelihood to harm normal tissues, which may enhance tolerability and the ability to persist in the body long enough to fight the disease, offering the potential for durable response. As such, allogeneic EBV T cells have the potential to transform the treatment of diseases associated with EBV.
Beyond EBV-Associated Diseases: Expanding the Promise of Our EBV T-Cell Platform to Treat More Patients in Need
Redirecting allogeneic EBV T cells to target non-EBV-associated diseases
EBV T cells can also be modified to add receptors on the surface of the cells that target cancer cells to fight blood cancer and solid tumors. These chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) or T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies are designed to attack specific cancer targets while retaining the key advantages of the EBV T-cell platform including potential for reduced toxicity, homing to the site of disease, and persistence in the body long enough to fight the disease.
Applying next-generation technologies to our CAR T-cell pipeline
Atara has assembled a toolkit of next-generation technologies designed to enhance the benefits of T-cell immunotherapies and address some of the current limitations in the field. Atara’s next-generation T cells target antigens widely expressed in malignant cells, which may improve tumor specificity and reduce ability to harm normal cells. Atara is investigating novel co-stimulatory activity domains (1XX and Mut06) with the potential to provide more physiologic levels of signaling to avoid activation-induced cell death and exhaustion, reduce cytokine release syndrome (CRS), and improve persistence. Expression of PD-1 dominant negative receptor by CAR T cells aim to prevent suppression of T cells by the hostile tumor microenvironment and improve their antitumor activity, which may be beneficial in targeting solid malignancies.
World-Class T-Cell Manufacturing Technology
Atara’s core manufacturing technology is designed to be scalable, reliable, and flexible. It provides a manufacturing platform from which our comprehensive pipeline of T-cell immunotherapies can be developed or leveraged to support collaborations with partner companies.
- Using our manufacturing technology to produce T cells, the process can be scaled to demand and has the potential to provide hundreds to thousands of doses from a single donor.
- Atara’s allogeneic platform, including manufacturing technology, provides the flexibility to produce multiple immunotherapies with the goal of rapid delivery to patients within three days.
- Atara’s scale-up technology is a key enabler to help deliver biologics-like cost of goods manufactured and will be leveraged across our portfolio, including the CAR T programs.
- Cryogenic storage enables extensive shelf life for T cells and optimizes inventory management.
Our logistics capability has been utilized in clinical trials conducted at more than 60 trial sites in the United States, Australia, and Europe. Many of Atara’s allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy candidates using an EBV T-cell platform, including tab-cel® and ATA188, could be administered in an outpatient setting with the option to re-dose patients or switch to another line in inventory, if necessary.
Through our leading-edge ARC research and development facility in Southern California; Fitzsimons Process Development facility in Denver, Colorado; and Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) partners, Atara continues to innovate T-cell research capabilities and manufacturing technologies.
Our dedicated Thousand Oaks-based 34,700 sq. ft. Atara Research Center (ARC) facility houses Atara’s Pre-Clinical, Translational Sciences, Manufacturing Process Sciences, and Analytical Development teams to help drive innovation by leveraging our differentiated allogeneic cell therapy platform. Atara’s manufacturing technology is managed by our talented technical operations team, who manage external manufacturing, quality, logistics and supply.
What Makes Atara’s Technology Different?
Atara is developing investigational allogeneic T-cell immunotherapies with the potential to transform the treatment of blood cancers, solid tumors, and autoimmune diseases. Allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy candidates based on an EBV T-cell platform are designed to provide a specific and targeted approach where EBV is associated with the disease. The EBV T-cell platform is a novel approach that offers potential flexibility. EBV T cells can be modified to produce CAR or TCR T-cell immunotherapy candidates that are designed to overcome the hostile tumor microenvironment to target solid tumors, decrease cell exhaustion and death, and improve persistence. Atara’s manufacturing and distribution platform is designed to rapidly deliver product to patients within three days and enable reliable, biologics-like cost-of-goods.