Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Aug 1, 2024 2:52:31 GMT
Japanese researchers eye COVID treatment derived from stem cells - Published July 30, 2024
Immunotherapy creates killer T cells that detect coronavirus markers
OSAKA -- A Japanese research team is developing an immunotherapy to treat COVID-19 using embryonic stem cells.
The researchers at Kyoto University, led by Hiroshi Kawamoto, have developed a way to genetically engineer embryonic stem cells to produce killer T cells, a type of white blood cell that can search for and destroy infected cells in the body.
The potential treatment would be administered to critically ill patients who are immunocompromised. Clinical trials are expected to begin in fiscal 2027, and the treatment could go on the market around 2029.
Few of the current COVID-19 treatments have been effective for severe cases. Killer T cells are believed to offer high potential, but it is time-consuming and costly to genetically modify a patient's own killer T cells to effectively target infections.
Introducing modified killer T cells from donors risks an immunological rejection by the host's body.
Kawamoto's team uses killer T cells produced from genetically modified embryonic stem cells, making them less likely to trigger immune system rejection.
In a simulated lab setting, Kawamoto's team tested the grown killer T cells on lung cells genetically modified to express COVID markers. The T cells were able to destroy a large majority of the "infected" lung cells within 12 hours.
The team opted not to use induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, developed by a different Kyoto University team.
"The processes involved in producing iPS cells are bound by various patents, which increases the costs of treatment development due to the payment of royalties," Kawamoto said.
Immunotherapy creates killer T cells that detect coronavirus markers
OSAKA -- A Japanese research team is developing an immunotherapy to treat COVID-19 using embryonic stem cells.
The researchers at Kyoto University, led by Hiroshi Kawamoto, have developed a way to genetically engineer embryonic stem cells to produce killer T cells, a type of white blood cell that can search for and destroy infected cells in the body.
The potential treatment would be administered to critically ill patients who are immunocompromised. Clinical trials are expected to begin in fiscal 2027, and the treatment could go on the market around 2029.
Few of the current COVID-19 treatments have been effective for severe cases. Killer T cells are believed to offer high potential, but it is time-consuming and costly to genetically modify a patient's own killer T cells to effectively target infections.
Introducing modified killer T cells from donors risks an immunological rejection by the host's body.
Kawamoto's team uses killer T cells produced from genetically modified embryonic stem cells, making them less likely to trigger immune system rejection.
In a simulated lab setting, Kawamoto's team tested the grown killer T cells on lung cells genetically modified to express COVID markers. The T cells were able to destroy a large majority of the "infected" lung cells within 12 hours.
The team opted not to use induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells, developed by a different Kyoto University team.
"The processes involved in producing iPS cells are bound by various patents, which increases the costs of treatment development due to the payment of royalties," Kawamoto said.