Anixa Biosciences, Inc. announced that Jose Conejo-Garcia, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Immunology at Duke University School of Medicine and co-inventor of Anixa's CAR-T technology, will deliver a keynote presentation at the South Carolina Clinical & Translational Research Institute 2026 Retreat on March 6, 2026. The conference focuses on cell-based therapies from discovery to translation, making Conejo-Garcia's participation significant for both the scientific community and investors tracking advancements in cancer immunotherapy.
His presentation is expected to include discussion of Anixa's ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of liraltagene autoleucel, known as lira-cel, an FSHR-targeted CAR-T therapy for recurrent ovarian cancer. The therapy was first discovered at The Wistar Institute, and the current study is enrolling women who have progressed after at least two prior therapies. This represents a critical patient population with limited treatment options, making the development of novel approaches particularly important.
Anixa's therapeutic portfolio centers on lira-cel, an ovarian cancer immunotherapy being developed in collaboration with Moffitt Cancer Center. The technology uses a novel type of CAR-T known as chimeric endocrine receptor-T cell technology. This approach is differentiated from other cell therapies because the natural ligand of the FSHR receptor, FSH, binds to the FSHR receptor on the tumor cell instead of an antibody fragment. Moffitt Cancer Center is recognized as a world leader in cancer immunotherapy treatments, pioneering next-generation cell therapies including CAR-T and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes.
The company's business model involves partnering with world-renowned research institutions throughout development stages. This collaborative approach allows Anixa to continually examine emerging technologies in complementary fields for further development and commercialization. Beyond its CAR-T program, Anixa's vaccine portfolio includes vaccines being developed in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic to treat and prevent breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Additional cancer vaccines aim to address intractable cancers including high incidence malignancies in lung, colon, and prostate.
These vaccine technologies focus on immunizing against "retired" proteins found to be expressed in certain forms of cancer. The breast and ovarian cancer vaccines were developed at Cleveland Clinic and exclusively licensed to Anixa. Cleveland Clinic is entitled to royalties and other commercialization revenues from the company related to these vaccine technologies. More information about Anixa Biosciences can be found at https://www.anixa.com.
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