Teaching a patient's own immune cells to push back on cancer

Vienna-based invIOs has published peer-reviewed Phase 1 results for APN401, a cell therapy that takes a patient's own immune cells, briefly switches off an internal brake called CBL-B, and returns them better able to attack tumours. In Molecular Therapy Oncology, the team reports the treatment was well tolerated across 17 people with advanced solid tumours who had already tried many therapies — no severe treatment-related side effects — and disease stabilised in half of the patients whose responses could be measured. Early days, but a clean safety profile is the doorway every cancer therapy must walk through first.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation