RAPA-201 Therapy of Solid Tumors

Study Summary

The therapy of solid tumors has been revolutionized by immune therapy, in particular, approaches that activate immune T cells in a polyclonal manner through blockade of checkpoint pathways such as PD-1 by administration of monoclonal antibodies. In this study, the investigators will evaluate the adoptive transfer of RAPA-201 cells, which are checkpoint-deficient polyclonal T cells that represent an analogous yet distinct immune therapy treatment platform for solid tumors. The administration of polyclonal, metabolically-fit RAPA-201 cells is a novel adoptive T cell therapy approach that is suitable for regenerative medicine efforts. RAPA-201 is a novel immunotherapy product consisting of reprogrammed autologous CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of Th1/Tc1 cytokine phenotype. RAPA-201, which have acquired resistance to the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus, are manufactured ex vivo from peripheral blood mononuclear cells collected from solid tumor patients using a steady-state apheresis. The novel RAPA-201 manufacturing platform, which incorporates both an mTOR inhibitor (temsirolimus) and an anti-cancer Th1/Tc1 polarizing agent (IFN-alpha) generates polyclonal T cells with five key characteristics: 1. Th1/Tc1: polarization to anti-cancer Th1 and Tc1 subsets, with commensurate down-regulation of immune suppressive Th2 and regulatory T (TREG) subsets; 2. T Central Memory: expression of a T central memory (TCM) phenotype, which promotes T cell engraftment and persistence for prolonged anti-tumor effects; 3. Rapamycin-Resistance: acquisition of rapamycin-resistance, which translates into a multi-faceted anti-apoptotic phenotype that improves T cell fitness in the stringent conditions of the tumor microenvironment; 4. T Cell Quiescence: reduced T cell activation, as evidence by reduced expression of the IL-2 receptor CD25, which reduces T cell-mediated cytokine toxicities such as cytokine-release syndrome (CRS) that limit other forms of T cell therapy; and 5. Reduced Checkpoints: multipl

Primary Outcome

To determine the safety of RAPA-201 cell therapy when used in combination with a carboplatin plus paclitaxel (CP) standard-of-care chemotherapy regimen and in combination with anti-PD1 maintenance therapy. Specifically, the treatment will be determined to be safe if the following parameters are met: (Metric #1) using the metric of "grade 4/grade 5 toxicity toxicity attributable to the RAPA-201 cell therapy": for positive determination of safety, this metric must occur in 1 or fewer patients out

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• BIOLOGICAL RAPA-201 Rapamycin Resistant T Cells
• DRUG Chemotherapy Prior to RAPA-201 Therapy
• DRUG Pembrolizumab (PD-1 Blocking Antibody)

Study Locations (1)