About the Arcelis® Technology Platform
Arcelis® is a precision immunotherapy technology that captures the spectrum of mutated (or neoantigens) and variant antigens that are specific to each patient’s individual disease. It was designed to overcome immunosuppression by enabling specifically targeted, durable memory T-cells without adjuvants that may be associated with toxicity. This platform technology is potentially applicable to the treatment of a wide range of different cancers and infectious diseases, and is specifically designed to overcome many of the manufacturing and commercialization challenges that have impeded other personalized immunotherapies.
Why Precision is Important in Immuno-oncology?
Like a shifting kaleidoscope, every tumor pattern is unique to each individual. Mutations (or neoantigens) in the tumor and/or over-expression of normal proteins can lead to malignant growth. Argos scientists have recognized that “one-size fits-all” therapeutic approaches have had only limited clinical success, and have innovated a precise immunotherapeutic approach unlike any other with the potential to be revolutionary.
The Arcelis® process uses only a small disease sample or biopsy as the source of disease-specific antigens, and the patient’s own dendritic cells, which are optimized from cells collected by a leukapheresis procedure. Our proprietary process uses RNA isolated from the patient’s disease sample to program dendritic cells to target disease-specific antigens. These activated, antigen-loaded dendritic cells are then formulated with the patient’s plasma, and administered via intradermal injection as an individualized immunotherapy.
How does ROCAPULDENCEL-T (AGS-003) activate neo-immunity?
Argos’ most advanced product candidate, ROCAPULDENCEL-T (AGS-003), is being evaluated in the pivotal ADAPT Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). It is an individualized immunotherapy that captures both mutated and variant antigens that are unique to each patient’s tumor, and, therefore, specifically designed to induce an immune response targeting that patient’s particular tumor antigens. So called “neo-immunity” is enabled when immunization with ROCAPULDENCEL-T (AGS-003) induces activation and expansion of new T-cells (both long-lasting memory cells and killer cells) that are specifically armed to attack to material unique to that individual tumor.
