Conference Day One
8:00 am Registration & Coffee Networking
8:40 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
8:50 am Industry Leaders’ Fireside Chat – Accelerating the Potential of Adoptive T-Cell Therapy to Drive Toward Approved Cell Therapies in Solid Tumors: Discussing the Past, Present & Future for TIL
Synopsis
TIL therapies have come a long way since the pioneering work of Dr Rosenberg in the late 80s and the opportunity TIL provides to improve and expand on current immunotherapeutic treatments holds a great deal of promise. Key themes and questions to be explored include:
•Discussing the key lessons learned from past developments to apply to current research
• Debating the role of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes in the Checkpoint Inhibitor era
• Providing input on next generation technologies to drive the field forward
• Asking the question: ‘What lies on the horizon for TIL?’ and discussing the future to tackle colder tumors and drive the commercialization of TIL therapies
9:30 am Enhancing Stemness of Polyclonal T Cells to Improve Anti-Tumor Activity
Synopsis
• Yielding highly effective polyclonal T cell products by utilizing next generation strategies including gene editing
• Enriching for tumor-specific T cell clonotypes in clinical T cell products to improve therapeutic efficacy
• Emerging approaches to maximize clinical utility of TIL products
10:00 am CliniMACS Prodigy TRT System: Streamlining TIL Manufacturing
Synopsis
- Automated, closed and GMP-compliant clinical scale TIL manufacturing
- Enrichment of CD137+ TIL increases end-product reactivity
- Manufacturing Ecosystem: sample preparation, in process control and QC
10:30 am Morning Break & Speed Networking
Next Generation Approaches to Enhance TIL Function & Move Beyond Melanoma
11:30 am Developing a Novel Costimulatory Antigen Receptor With Dual CD28/ CD40 Signaling Domains to Improve Adoptive Cell Therapies
Synopsis
• Utilizing a novel platform to overcome poor endogenous costimulation and leverage the diverse TCR repertoire of TILs while amplifying antitumor activity
• Improving primary human ovarian TIL function
• Optimizing TIL therapies to improve scalability, logistics and accessibility
12:00 pm Pooled PBMC Feeder Cells: Benefits for Growing TIL Therapies
Synopsis
• Understanding PBMC-based feeder cells for growing TIL therapies
• Introducing pooled PBMC feeder cells
• Understanding benefits of pooled PBMC feeder cell product for growing TIL
therapies
12:30 pm Methods for Enrichment of TIL with Autologous Tumor-Reactivity & Stem-Like Qualities
Synopsis
• Functional comparisons of biomarkers for identification of tumor-reactive TIL subsets
• Identifying tumor-specific TILs with non-canonical stem-like properties for use in adoptive cell therapy
• Genetic outfitting of TILs with factors that drive in vivo proliferation post-infusion
1:00 pm Lunch Break & Networking
2:00 pm Combining TIL with Small Molecule Inhibitors to Enhance T – Cell Expansion & Phenotypes
Synopsis
• Expanding the scope of indications to include gynaecological malignancies by combining with small molecule inhibitors
• Applying targeted protein modulation to adoptive cell therapy
• Inhibiting CBL-B to stimulate IL-2 secretion, reduce T cell exhaustion and improve clinical outcomes
2:30 pm Next-Gen TIL Therapy With a Broader T-Cell Repertoire – The Key to Unlocking Less Immunogenic Solid Tumor Indications
Synopsis
• Explore reinvigoration of exhausted TILs by ex vivo checkpoint blockade and stimulation generating a TIL product with a broader T-cell repertoire
• Investigate reduction in required starting material to a few milligrams of tumor allowing for minimally invasive TIL therapy to expand patient reach
• Examine T-cell repertoire breadth, depth and functionality – the way to boost clinical outcome of TIL therapy
3:00 pm Afternoon Break
TILs in the Clinic – Key Considerations & Challenges to Achieve Maximum Patient Benefit
3:30 pm Development of Selected TIL Therapies for Solid Tumors
Synopsis
• Description of methods to select tumor reactive TIL
• Characterization of selected tumor-reactive TIL
• Non-clinical evaluation of selected tumor-reactive TIL
4:00 pm Panel Discussion: Strategies & Approaches for Ensuring Clinical Success of TIL Therapies
Synopsis
• Discussing the translation of academic research into effective therapeutic development for patients
• Incorporating new technologies to improve the clinical efficacy of ACT in future clinical trials
• Debating combination approaches and reviewing current clinical landscape