Revolutionising CAR T-cell therapy with mRNA innovations
09 January 2025
Two groundbreaking research projects at Peter Mac will aim to revolutionise CAR T-cell therapy, making it more effective and accessible for cancer patients.
The two novel research proposals received funding via the 2024 mRNA Victoria Research Acceleration Fund (mVRAF) Program, which is designed to help grow mRNA capability in Victoria and increase the RNA candidate pipeline of next generation vaccines and therapies.
Dr Isabelle Munoz and Dr Kevin Sek both received a grant for their research proposals which will focus on different aspects of making chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy a more effective treatment.
Dr Isabelle Munoz, a fundamental cancer researcher and immunologist in Paul Beavis’ lab at Peter Mac said that she will explore whether combining mRNA vaccines with Flt3-L secreting CAR T-cells is an effective way to treat solid tumours.
“CAR T-cell therapy has been revolutionary, producing remarkable responses in the treatment of some blood cancers,” she said.
“Yet despite extensive efforts, this treatment is currently not effective against solid tumours. With this funding we hope to further develop our work that combines mRNA vaccination technology with CAR T-cell therapy principals to bring about new commercialised treatments.”
Working alongside Dr Munoz are Associate Professor Paul Beavis and Dr Maria Nogueira de Menezes.
Dr Kevin Sek, Post Doctoral researcher in the Darcy Lab, said his research aims to develop a new platform for delivering CAR T-cell therapy.
“Our research will use a T-cell targeted lipid nanoparticle delivery of mRNA to generate CAR T-cell therapy that persists in the system,” he said.
“Current T-cell therapies use manufacturing methods that are autologous, expensive, complex, and time-consuming.
“Our vision is to develop a new CAR T-cell treatment that could be manufactured off-the-shelf, be multitargeted, significantly cheaper and will allow for broader and more equitable access.”
Collaborating with Dr Sek, Professor Phil Darcy and Dr Mohamed Fareh.
Professor Ricky Johnstone, Executive Director of Cancer Research congratulated Drs Munoz and Sek on their grant success.
“Utilizing innovative mRNA-based technologies to advance cellular immunotherapies is a very exciting area of research and one that we at Peter Mac are delighted to lead in,” he said.
“As early career researchers this funding is important for them to develop their own careers and to drive this evolving area of cancer research forward.”