Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA) confirmed the functionality of its claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2)-targeting chimeric antigen receptor by demonstrating that CLDN18.2 chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) cells eliminate pancreatic cancer cells that express CLDN18.2 in a proof-of-concept in vitro study, according to a Thursday Australian bourse filing.
Arovella's chimeric antigen receptor design is based on the patent-protected CLDN18.2 antigen-binding sequences of the SPX-101 monoclonal antibody, for which the firm has an exclusive license for use in cell therapies.
The study was performed at the University of North Carolina. The human pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line, PaTu8892S, which expresses CLDN18.2, was selected as a model cell line for this study. CLDN18.2 CAR-T cells, generated from three independent donors, were cultured in vitro with twice the number of PaTu8892S cells for three days. After this, the degree of cytotoxicity was measured.
The firm's shares jumped over 13% in recent trading on Thursday.