Gritstone bio links up with NCI to evaluate a neoantigen cell therapy-vaccine combo

Shares of US biotech Gritstone bio (Nasdaq: GRTS) were up 2.23% t $2.67 pre-marker as the company, announced that it has entered into a clinical trial agreement with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), an institute of the USA’s National Institutes of Health.

They plan to evaluate an autologous T cell therapy expressing a T cell receptor targeting mutated KRAS in combination with Gritstone’s KRAS-directed vaccine candidate, SLATE-KRAS, in a Phase 1 study. The study will be led by Dr Steven Rosenberg, chief of the Surgery Branch at the NCI's Center for Cancer Research.

Dr Andrew Allen, co-founder, president and chief executive of Gritstone, commented: “To date, cell therapy’s success in treating blood cancers has not translated to the more common solid tumors. There is a mechanistic synergy in having cell therapy and cancer vaccines in combination. We are thrilled to test this hypothesis in patients in collaboration with a leader in the cell therapy field. We look forward to collaborating with Dr Rosenberg and his team to generate proof-of-concept data from this promising study.”