Nextera is very pleased to announce that the Norwegian Research Council (NRC) has awarded a prestigious 15.7 MNOK grant funding to expand our NextCore platform with a novel T cell receptor (TCR) discovery pipeline.
The latest generation immuno-oncology (IO) therapies have shown a remarkable ability to treat and eventually cure cancer by evoking or grafting an anti-cancer immune response into patients. T cells are at the core of this immune response and they acquire this ability through their TCRs. Therefore, further improvements in harnessing IO therapy will critically depend upon the availability of clinically safe and potent TCRs.
“The NextCore phage display platform is uniquely equipped to address the unmet need in therapeutic TCR supply and development. This project is a natural expansion of our already strong T cell immunology focus in drug discovery, and gives Nextera a solid footprint in current and next generation cancer immunotherapies. The grant is instrumental for the initiation of this project, and represents a validation of Nextera’s commercial pathway.” Geir Åge Løset, PhD, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Nextera AS, commented.