Minerva Biotechnologies Gets FDA Approval of IND for a MUC1*-CAR-1XX with Increased Persistence and Ability to Kill Low Antigen Expressing Cells for Treatment of Solid Tumor Cancers
WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Minerva Biotechnologies Corporation announced today that its trial of huMNC2-CAR44 T cells (NCT04020575) has now opened at City of Hope, Duarte, California. This is a first-in-human trial targeting the tumor-associated form of MUC1, called MUC1* (muk 1 star). MUC1* is the transmembrane cleavage product that is a growth factor receptor that drives growth of an estimated 93% of breast cancers. The antibody that targets Minerva’s CAR T to the tumor binds to an ectopic site that is only exposed after cleavage and release of the tandem repeat domain. Other attempts at targeting MUC1 with antibodies, ADCs, or CAR Ts have targeted the tandem repeat domain, which is cleaved in the tumor microenvironment and shed from the cell surface.
Minerva Neurosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: NERV), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies to treat central nervous system (CNS) disorders, today reported key business updates and financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2021.
On June 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., et al. which vacated the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that upheld assignor estoppel, and sent the case back to the Federal Circuit to consider whether the Hologic patent at issue contains claims that are materially broader than the claims of a patent issued to Minerva Surgical's founder, and then assigned to a company that was later purchased by Hologic in 2007.