# Engineered TCR-T Cell Therapies Targeting Shared Tumor Associated Antigens

> **NIH NIH R43** · GIGAMUNE, INC. · 2021 · $400,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Project Title: Engineered TCR-T Cell Therapies Targeting Shared Tumor Associated Antigens
Organization: GigaMune Inc.
PI: Matthew J Spindler, Ph.D.
Adoptive cell therapies (ACTs) including CAR-T, TCR-T, and TIL therapies have shown strong clinical responses
for the treatment of cancer patients for hematological cancers and solid tumors. However, only anti-CD19 CAR-
T cell therapies have been FDA approved and commercialized for the treatment of hematological cancers.
Numerous TCR-T cell clinical trials are ongoing for the treatment of solid tumors, but these trials target only a
handful of tumor associated antigens (TAAs) with the majority restricted to HLA-A0201. Thus, there is a need to
develop novel anti-cancer TCR-T cell therapies for the treatment of a broader patient population.
TAAs including cancer/testis and differentiation antigens are ideal TCR-T cell targets as they are shared across
patients and solid tumor types and can induce T cell responses across numerous HLA alleles. Importantly, a
recent clinical trial demonstrated that autologous anti-TAA T cells can provide strong anti-tumor efficacy in high-
risk solid tumor patients. However, these autologous anti-TAA T cells require intensive ex vivo expansion and
can result in variable anti-tumor reactivity. This suggests that TCR-T cell therapies targeting common TAAs
would provide an effective treatment for solid tumor patients and improve manufacturing consistency and
efficacy.
The Specific Aim of this Phase I SBIR project is to develop a catalog of natural human TCRs that target shared
tumor associated antigens for use in autologous or allogeneic TCR-T cells therapies. GigaMune's unique
technology uses microfluidics, genomics, and mammalian display to generate millions-diverse, natively paired
TCRab repertoire libraries. The TCRab libraries are immortal, enabling repeated experimentation with a panel
of antigens. This will expedite discovery of rare anti-TAA TCRs.
The project is led by Dr. Matthew J. Spindler, an expert in immunogenomics and inventor of the GigaMune
technology and supported by serial entrepreneur and co-founder David Johnson (GigaGen). After completing
this Phase I SBIR project, GigaMune will further develop promising TCRs as TCR-T cell therapies, through in
vivo efficacy studies, in vitro safety studies, and manufacturing development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10324506
- **Project number:** 1R43CA265475-01
- **Recipient organization:** GIGAMUNE, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew James Spindler
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $400,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10324506

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10324506, Engineered TCR-T Cell Therapies Targeting Shared Tumor Associated Antigens (1R43CA265475-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10324506. Licensed CC0.

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