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

  • Jennifer Chain Director, Research & Development, Chief Scientific Officer, Oklahoma Blood Institute, CytoGrowth Solutions, BioSharing Network

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

  • Daniel Powell Assocaite Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

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

  • Ulrik Cordes Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Cordes Biotech A/S

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

  • Peter Prieto Assistant Professor & Associate Director - Program, Research, Surgical Residency Program, Oncology & Research, General Surgery, University of Rochester Medical Center
  • Sylvia Lee MD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC)
  • Simon Turcotte Associate professor of surgery, Université de Montréal, Université de Montréal

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

4:30 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks & End of Day One