Congratulations to Dr David Ju, head of the Nanomedicine & Gene Therapeutics Laboratory at ONJCRI, who has received funding through Therapeutic Innovation Australia (TIA)’s Pipeline Accelerator program.
This funding will allow the team, which includes Dr Shiyao Li and Prof Marco Herold, to collaborate with the BASE mRNA facility at the University of Queensland, and advance their research into mRNA-based immunotherapies.
This facility provides researchers with access to specialised expertise and infrastructure to help translate innovative concepts into future treatments.
“Our project directly aims to develop an immunotherapy that overcomes three major barriers in current cancer treatment: accessibility, toxicity, and efficacy,” says Dr Ju.
ONJCRI is accelerating its work in the immunotherapy space and seeking new avenues to deliver cancer drugs to patients. Dr Ju explains how mRNA immunotherapies could help achieve this objective:
“mRNA-based immunotherapies use lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to deliver genetic instructions (mRNA) directly into immune cells inside the body.”
LNPs are tiny sacs made of lipids that are used as delivery systems for drugs and genetic material.
While the research has broader potential, this particular project focuses on lymphoma, an important area of research at ONJCRI.
To study the effectiveness of these mRNA-based immunotherapies, the team will administer them to engineer CAR-T cells in the body of the patient (in vivo). Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR)-T cell therapy is a form of treatment where a patient’s T-cells are genetically modified to specifically eliminate cancer cells.
“By engineering CAR-T cells in vivo using mRNA immunotherapies, we remove the need for complex cell processing, improve patient access to life-saving therapies, and reduce risks linked to long-term (CAR) expression.”
“This in vivo approach offers a faster, more flexible, and safer alternative, allowing more precise control to eliminate cancer cells.”
Congratulations again to the team for leading the way in this promising area of cancer research.