Verismo Therapeutics reports preclinical data for KIR-CAR platform
New preclinical data indicates that Verismo Therapeutics' SynKIR-110 therapy improves tumor control while reducing T-cell exhaustion compared to conventional CAR T designs.
Verismo Therapeutics presented new preclinical data at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) demonstrating that its SynKIR-110 multi-chain KIR-CAR platform offers a distinct safety and efficacy profile compared to traditional single-chain CAR T cell therapies. In head-to-head preclinical mesothelioma models, the treatment achieved faster tumor control while producing 10-fold lower IFNγ and 30-fold lower TNFα and IL-2 levels than conventional CD28-based counterparts.
Key findings from the study suggest that separating antigen binding from T-cell activation helps prevent tonic signaling, a common issue in traditional CAR T designs that can lead to T-cell exhaustion and off-target activity. Unlike the single-chain models tested, SynKIR-110 showed no accumulation in healthy lung tissue and significantly lower expression of exhaustion markers such as TIM3, LAG3, and PD1.
SynKIR-110 is currently undergoing Phase 1 clinical evaluation under the STAR-101 trial for patients with mesothelin-expressing solid tumors. Early clinical results have reported a lack of dose-limiting toxicities and serious immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS), supporting the continued development of the KIR-CAR platform.