Imagine your immune system has a set of 'wanted' posters to find cancer, but the posters are blurry. This project uses a smart computer program to find a very specific 'fingerprint' left by old viruses inside cancer cells that healthy cells don't show. They then train T-cells to recognize this fingerprint and attack the tumor like a precision-guided missile. It's designed to work for many different patients without needing a custom-made treatment for each person.
Ovarian cancer has a low 30-40% five-year survival rate because 75% of patients are diagnosed late. Current treatments fail 2/3 of patients, leaving a massive unmet need for a highly effective, rapid-response therapy.
TCR-OV1, a T-cell therapy targeting HERV antigens, and a scaled-up manufacturing process for clinical use.
If you are a cell therapy developer dealing with the high cost of personalized treatments — this project developed TCR-OV1 that targets antigens shared between patients. This allows for an off-the-shelf product rather than patient-specific manufacturing.
If you are a clinic dealing with the 75% of ovarian cancer patients diagnosed at an advanced stage — this project developed a T-cell therapy that provides a massive immune response with one single injection. This addresses the need for highly effective treatment from the first administration.
If you are a CDMO dealing with the transition from lab to clinic — this project developed a scaled-up manufacturing process for TCR-T cell therapy. This enables the production of clinical-grade doses for human trials.
Based on available project data, the specific price per dose is not mentioned; however, the EU contribution for development is EUR 2,499,999.
The project is specifically scaling up its small-scale manufacturing process to demonstrate efficacy and safety in humans.
The project utilizes proprietary bioinformatics algorithms for antigen discovery and expects to sign a co-development and commercialization agreement in Q1 2028.
Clinical validation of TCR-OV1's efficacy and safety in patients is expected by Q4 2027.
It is designed for patients who do not respond to or relapse after 1st- and 2nd-line treatments, where 2/3 of patients currently fail available therapies.
The project is led by a single partner, ERVIMMUNE, a French SME. This 100% industry-led consortium indicates a strong commercial drive and a streamlined decision-making process, as there are no university or research institute partners involved in the primary funding structure.
Contact ERVIMMUNE in France regarding TCR-OV1 licensing
Contact us to explore partnership opportunities with ERVIMMUNE for HERV-based therapies.
