Principal Entity
Epitopea Inc.
Project of $1,127,818 over 18 months
- Supported by CQDM through:
Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie du Québec (MEIE) - And by co-funding partner:
– Epitopea Inc.
Challenge:
Patients diagnosed with hormone receptor-positive, HER2 negative (HR+) breast cancer are treated with adjuvant endocrine therapy post surgical resection. For many patients with high-risk clinical features, precision small molecule therapies, CDK4/6 inhibitors, are combined with endocrine therapy as standard of care. While many breast cancer subtypes have benefited from the introduction of immunotherapy, HR+ tumors have been defined as immunologically “cold,” meaning they respond poorly to immune-based approaches. Preliminary studies have shown that the CDK4/6 inhibitor Abemaciclib can unmask a novel repertoire of tumor-specific antigens, which are small fragments of proteins processed and presented on the surface of cancer cells. The proposal involves a comprehensive annotation of HR+ breast cancer cells to evaluate treatment-induced antigen presentation at the cell surface. To date, this approach has not been systematically utilized or leveraged for therapeutic development.
Solution:
The Quebec biotechnology company, Epitopea Inc., proposes to identify and characterize the treatment induced, tumor-specific antigen repertoire that emerges following CDK4/6 treatment of HR+ breast cancer cells. Using its state-of-the-art antigen discovery platform, CryptoMap™, Epitopea will identify and characterize CDK4/6-induced tumor antigens including their aberrantly expressed tumor-specific antigens known as Cryptigens™ and evaluate their potential as actionable immunotherapy targets. This approach offers a unique opportunity to render an immunologically “cold” HR+ breast tumor responsive to “first in human” precision immunotherapies. Furthermore, they look forward to combining CDK4/6 inhibition with an “off the shelf” cancer vaccine approach targeting these therapy-induced Cryptigens™ via their CryptiVax™ vaccine modality. This combinatorial approach will provide cancer patients with a more durable, long-term therapeutic response.
Expected Achievements /Impacts:
The discovery of these treatment-induced tumor specific antigens will provide novel “first in human” foundational data for the development of this CryptiVax™ vaccine. A secondary impact of this project is the establishment of a framework for extending CryptiVax™ vaccine development to other immunotherapy-refractory cancers. This work will further strengthen the Quebec life sciences ecosystem by driving RNA therapeutic innovation and supporting Quebec’s emergence as a globally competitive hub.
