Juno Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company developing novel cellular immunotherapies based on two distinct and complementary platforms – Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) and T Cell Receptors (TCRs) technologies. Our goal is to revolutionize medicine by re-engaging the body’s immune system to treat cancer.
The acquisition provides Juno with an exclusive license to vipadenant, a small molecule adenosine A2a (A2a) receptor antagonist that has the potential to disrupt important immunosuppressive pathways in the tumor microenvironment in certain cancers. Juno intends to explore this molecule in combination with its engineered T cell platform and may over time explore it in other areas as well. In addition to vipadenant, Juno has acquired proprietary know-how and intellectual property pertaining to the development of A2aR antagonists in combination with immuno-modulatory agents, such as the company’s engineered T cells.
The use of human T cells as therapeutics to re-engage the immune system has the potential to revolutionize the way cancer is treated. Juno’s technologies genetically engineer a patient’s own T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. These cellular therapies have the potential to be effective regardless of the type of previous treatments patients have experienced and may avoid the long-term side effects associated with current treatments. We use two different technologies to target cancer cells and activate T cells, CARs and TCRs.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) technology directs T cells to recognize cancer cells based on expression of specific cell surface proteins.
High-affinity TCR technology provides T cells with a specific T cell receptor that recognizes cancer cells based on expression of specific proteins inside the cell or on the cell surface.
T cell immunotherapy using CAR and TCR technologies have shown promising results in early clinical trials and may offer new options for patients with cancer.
