NEC Bio, the biotechnology arm of NEC, puts generative AI into practice and reveals, at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer annual meeting, the successful modification of T-cell receptors, a potentially transformative innovation in the world of TCR-based therapies
Using proprietary generative AI technology, NEC Bio has successfully modified T-cell receptors (TCRs) to enhance their efficacy. This achievement represents a major step forward in drug development and personalized medicine, as predicting and engineering TCR structures capable of binding to specific target sequences remains a major challenge in the field. The technology was presented in a scientific poster at the 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), which took place in Houston, Texas (USA), from November 6 to 10, 2024.
Advancing personalized cancer treatment
NEC Bio’s mission is to develop innovative therapies for patients worldwide using cutting-edge AI technologies. T-cell receptor (TCR)-based therapies utilize the high binding capacity of these receptors to attach to and destroy specific cancer cells using a variety of strategies. One of the main obstacles in developing TCR-based therapies is the difficulty in identifying TCR structures that specifically bind to defined target sequences. Traditionally, this has involved a laborious laboratory screening process, attempting to isolate the required TCR from human donor cells.
Motoo Nishihara, Corporate Executive Vice President and CTO of NEC, said: “We are extremely proud to announce our work on engineering T-cell receptors using our proprietary generative AI, presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Annual Meeting. This initiative underscores our commitment to advancing immunotherapy and highlights the transformative potential of our technology. We are excited about the future and the significant impact our innovations will have on the field of cancer treatment. This technology strengthens our portfolio and supports our mission to bring innovative, AI-led medicine to patients around the world.”
About the technology
The AI model developed by NEC Bio uses generative AI and large-scale language models (LLMs) to create T Cell Receptors (TCRs) with high efficacy.
Given a target peptide, the AI model is able to generate high-affinity TCR structures for targeted therapy, based on machine-learned knowledge about TCR physicochemical interactions. The AI has been tested on public datasets, where it outperforms conventional reference methods. The AI-designed TCRs have demonstrated enhanced activity in cellular assays, conducted in collaboration with the Aichi Cancer Center.
Building on this success, NEC Bio will expand the application of its generative AI technology to engineer TCRs targeting a variety of oncodrivers, target-specific antibodies, immunoproteins, DNA constructs, mRNA constructs, and more. This broad spectrum of applications underscores NEC Bio’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in drug design and development.
Details of the scientific poster at SITC
Poster title: Design of improved TCRs against cancer antigens using an AI system
Project authors: Martin Renqiang Min, Tianxiao Li, Kazuhide Onoguchi, Daiki Mori, Jonathan Warrell, Pierre Machart, Anja Moesch, Andrea Meiser, Ivy Grace Pait, Ayako Okamura, Daisuke Muraoka, Hirokazu Matsushita, Kaidre Bendjama.
Poster number: 1230
Date: November 7, 2024
The poster can be found here: Home | NEC Bio BV
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies, promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a Brighter World.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to the rapid changes taking place in both society and the marketplace by delivering social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency, fostering a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to realize their full potential.
For more information, visit NEC at https://www.nec.com.
About NEC Bio
NEC Bio, the biotechnology arm of NEC Corporation, is headquartered in the Netherlands and is dedicated to developing innovative biotechnology solutions to address some of the world’s most pressing healthcare challenges. NEC Bio’s research and development efforts are focused on creating personalized therapies that improve the quality of life for patients worldwide. NEC OncoImmunity, in Oslo, Norway, is also a subsidiary of NEC Bio.
For more information, visit Home | NEC Bio BV.
