SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GT Biopharma, Inc. (the “Company”) ( GTBP), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company focused on developing innovative therapeutics based on the Company's proprietary natural killer (NK) cell engager TriKE® platform, today announced it will host a virtual KOL event on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 12:00 PM ET. To register, click here.
The event will feature Jeffrey Miller, MD1 and Mark Juckett, MD from the University of Minnesota Medical School2, who will give an overview of the NK cell therapy landscape, discuss current limitations and provide perspective on the future direction of the field as it expands into exciting new therapeutic areas beyond oncology including inflammatory autoimmune indications.
Dr. Miller will elaborate on GT Biopharma’s TriKE® platform which has created an extensive pipeline of NK cell engagers. He will define where these engagers may best fit into the broader therapeutic landscape. Dr. Juckett will speak to GT Biopharma’s Phase 1 trial expected to start in Q4 evaluating GTB-3650 monotherapy for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
A live question and answer session will follow the formal presentation.
- Dr. Miller is the Consulting Senior Medical Director at GT Biopharma and holds stock and options in GTBP.
- The University of Minnesota, pursuant to its license agreement with GT Biopharma, is entitled to receive royalties should commercial sales of GTB-3650 be realized. This interest has been reviewed and managed by the University of Minnesota in accordance with its conflict of interest policies.
About Jeffrey Miller, MD
Dr. Miller has been interested in NK cell biology, NK cell development, the acquisition of NK cell receptors and seamless translation into clinical trials throughout his entire academic career. Currently, the lab is focused on mechanisms which determine the enhanced function seen with CMV induced adaptive NK cells, facilitating immune synapses with IL-15 containing Trispecific Killer Engagers (TriKEs), IL-15 biology, NK cell killer immunoglobulin receptor (KIR) acquisition and function (NK cell education), and developing NK cell therapeutics.
Throughout his career at the University of Minnesota, he has mentored faculty and delivered hundreds of NK cells products to patients with cancer. His team has identified unique NKC2C+ NK cell repertoires exhibit a methylation signature of CD8+ T cells with properties of immune memory. Adaptive NK cells are distinctly different from canonical NK cells and signal through CD16 using a dominant CD3-zeta signal by downregulation of Fc-gamma R1. Adaptive NK cells are better primed for killing, cytokine production, ADCC and exhibit unique metabolic signatures that enhance their survival. He has developed state-of-the-art functional readouts to study NK cells from the laboratory and the clinic based on high resolution testing. He was the first to report that haploidentical allogeneic human NK cells can persist and expand for up to one month after adoptive transfer. Based on these studies a significant part of his effort is trying to understand how to exploit NK cells for therapeutic purposes against infection and cancer and how to improve outcomes from allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation.
Clinically, he has developed first-in-human trials using allogeneic donor NK cells, rhIL-15, IL-15/IL-15R alpha-Fc (ALT-803, now called N-803), an NK cell TriKE that engages NK cells and AML targets that costimulates NK cells with an IL-15 linker. Dr. Miller's experience and translational expertise has supported a transition from individual related donor NK cell products to induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived NK cells. Advantages of using this off-the-shelf platform include the flexibility of multiple gene edits, immediate cryopreserved product availability, multi-doing strategies and combinatorial therapy with targeted agents to enhance NK cell function.
Dr. Miller is devoted to team science and mentoring. He has supervised > 400 NK cell products and sponsored >10 INDs and his team has studied >4000 transplant patients. Dr. Miller's experience, NIH grants and translational expertise provides a rich environment for training.
About Mark Juckett, MD
Dr. Juckett is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation at the University of Minnesota. His practice is committed to caring for people with blood cancers, especially when bone marrow transplantation or cellular therapy is required. In an era where the treatment options are expanding rapidly for patients with acute leukemia, myeloid diseases, and other blood cancers, Dr. Juckett believes the best care is determined after considering a patient and family's preferences and values. The Bone Marrow Transplant and Cell Therapy Program at the University of Minnesota strives to provide the best medical care possible through the innovative investigation into new and better treatment options and by incorporating discoveries into our daily medical care. His interest in helping people with blood cancers includes efforts to improve recovery through guided survivorship. The treatment of blood cancers can be a long and challenging journey for some people, who may be cured, but not recovered after treatment is complete. Dr. Juckett is also interested in developing survivorship care that will give patients and families the tools and support needed to regain a long, happy, and healthy life.
About GT Biopharma, Inc.
GT Biopharma, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of immuno-oncology therapeutic products based on our proprietary TriKE® NK cell engager platform. Our TriKE® platform is designed to harness and enhance the cancer killing abilities of a patient’s immune system’s natural killer cells. GT Biopharma has an exclusive worldwide license agreement with the University of Minnesota to further develop and commercialize therapies using TriKE® technology. For more information, please visit gtbiopharma.com.
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TriKE® is a registered trademark owned by GT Biopharma, Inc.
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