Ernexa Therapeutics’ “Trojan Horse” stem cells can infiltrate ovarian tumors in mice, boosting T cell activity and leading to shrunken tumors and improved survival, the company announced in a June 2 presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago.
The cells were engineered to produce two proinflammatory cytokines, IL-7 and IL-15, which help T cells infiltrate and fight tumors. The technique turns so-called “cold” tumors, which the immune system hasn’t reached, into “hot” tumors flush with active T cells fighting the cancer.
“By addressing the challenge of immunologically ‘cold’ tumors—where the immune system is largely absent—we’re opening the door to more effective options for patients who currently face limited therapeutic choices,” Ernexa president and CEO Sanjeev Luther said in a May 28 release. “It’s a powerful validation of Ernexa’s iMSC platform and a meaningful step toward realizing the promise of innovative, scalable and effective cell therapies.”
The cell therapy, called ERNA-101, stems from work pioneered by oncologist Michael Andreeff, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Ernexa plans to bring ERNA-101 into the clinic in 2026, and the Massachusetts-based biotech recently launched a Texas subsidiary to support Andreeff’s research and set the stage for clinical development, according to a May 14 release.
Andreeff and colleagues had previously found that mesenchymal stem cells, primarily from bone marrow, naturally migrate to tumors and contribute to tumor progression. Genetically tweaking these stem cells so that they produce proinflammatory cytokines previously showed promise in eliminating ovarian tumors in mice, but the cells struggled to replicate inside the body, according to the June 2 presentation.
In order to get around this limitation, Andreeff and other scientists from MD Anderson, in collaboration with Ernexa and cell therapy firm Factor Bioscience, induced pluripotent stem cells to turn into mesenchymal stem cells. These induced mesenchymal stem cells (iMSCs) are similar to mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow, the researchers reported in the presentation, but proliferate much more inside the mice.
Ernexa is developing a similar cell therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, which is also still in preclinical development.