Enterome SA  announced on 3/27/19 that it will present data on its innovative microbiome-based approach for the development of therapeutic peptide cancer vaccines for the first time in a poster at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta, GA, USA (March 29 to April 3).

Enterome’s innovative approach is based on the concept of “molecular mimicry” whereby microbiome-derived bacterial antigens show molecular similarity with Tumor-associated Antigens (TAAs) and Tumor-specific Neoantigens (TSNAs). Based on this similarity, bacterial antigens (“onco-mimics”) mimic key tumor antigens that are highly expressed by tumors to trigger tumor-specific cytotoxic T cell immune responses.

Enterome has developed a proprietary discovery platform to identify such bacterial onco-mimics from the human gut microbiome. The data to be presented at AACR 2019 demonstrate that onco-mimics identified by Enterome elicited strong immune responses against self-peptides that were, by themselves, not immunogenic. While mice vaccinated with TAAs did not generate an immune response, vaccination with onco-mimics were observed to result in a strong immune response against both bacterial peptides and selected TAAs. Furthermore, adoptive transfer of T cells from mice immunized with onco-mimics into tumor-engrafted nude mice led to tumor control in the presence of checkpoint inhibitors.

Enterome’s first product candidate developed using its molecular mimicry approach, EO2401, comprises three onco-mimics that are highly homologous to solid tumor antigens. Enterome expects to initiate a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of EO2401 in 2019 as a potential new immunotherapy for glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), for which no curative treatments exist.

The abstract is available online here.

Enterome currently has seven candidates in development. Three of those in the immuno-oncology arena.