Natural killer cells in immunotherapy: current status & challenges

Allogeneic Natural Killer (NK) cells are a promising immunotherapy for several cancers due to their natural anti-tumor activity and favorable safety profile. Their diverse array of activating and inhibitory receptors enables them to target heterogeneous tumors. However, their use as cell therapies faces challenges, including the lack of scalable cell sources for clinical-scale manufacturing, significant donor-to-donor variability, and the need for robust and predictive preclinical assays to validate NK efficacy. Currently at ImmuneBridge, we utilize a novel small molecule, IBR403, to expand cord blood unit (CBU) derived hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). We have built a screening platform that enables use of CBU segments, leaving the clinical CBU untouched for selective manufacturing. HSCs from segments are then used for NK differentiation and HSC-NKs are thoroughly characterized by phenotyping and functional assays. This screening platform enables us to select superior donors that outperform others in anti-tumor response, which can then be expanded and used as off-the-shelf therapies.

Ece Canan Sayitoglu is a bioengineer with extensive research experience in fields including immunology, molecular biology, genetic engineering and cancer immunotherapy. She has a BSc in Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, and completed her MSc in Immunology at King's College London and PhD at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey. She worked as a postdoctoral research scientist at Nova Southeastern University (FL) and more recently at Stanford University (CA) before joining the ImmuneBridge team. Her doctoral research focused on enhancing lentiviral gene delivery in human NK cells for better targeted therapies, and her postdoctoral studies helped advance genetically modified NK cells and T cells for various cancer immunotherapies. She has been a senior scientist at ImmuneBridge since 2023, working on HSC-derived NK cells. She is passionate about creating off-the-shelf cell therapies for cancer patients.