Tactiva Plans Cancer Trials For Next-Generation Cell Therapy

Emerging company profile: founded in early 2016, Tactiva Therapeutics licensed its adoptive cell therapy technology from Roswell Park Cancer Institute. CEO Matthew E. Colpoys told Scrip about the company's plans to raise funds to push its immunotherapy into clinical trials in five tumor types.

3d illustration of T cells or cancer cells

Tactiva Therapeutics is developing a next-generation adoptive cell therapy (ACT) that uses a dual approach to taking a patient's own T-cells and reprogramming them to attack cancer cells. Having licensed its technology, DEACT (dual enhanced adoptive cell therapy), from the Center for Immunotherapy at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, Tactiva plans to begin Phase I/II basket trials, by the end of 2017, in five tumor types using a combination of hematopoietic stem cell-derived CD4 T-cell receptors (TCRs) and mature CD8 TCRs.

Tactiva Therapeutics

Founded: January 2016

Founders: Matthew E. Colpoys, Richard C. Koya and Kunle Odunsi (co-directors at Roswell Park Cancer Institute)

Employees: 4

Financing: $1

The technology has received grant support of up to $25m and the company itself secured $1.5m in seed funding during the summer of 2016

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