INTEGRAL - IMMUNOTHERAPY

Immunotherapies, incl. vaccines, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells and checkpoint blockers, have produced extraordinary clinical results in subsets of cancer patients. Moreover, success stories and market opportunities for immunotherapies are building up in other disease areas beyond cancer, including autoimmune, fibro-inflammatory, infectious and neurodegenerative diseases. However, not all patients respond equally well to immune-based therapies, highlighting the need for improving immunotherapy outcome.

Aiming to tackle these issues, the IOF-GEAR consortium INTEGRAL (“Integrating a multimodal approach to address current challenges in immunotherapy”) is leveraging the complementary offering of expertise, know-how, knowledge and technologies of consortium co-promotors of three collaborating VUB laboratories: 

• Brussel Center for Immunology (BCIM)
• Molecular Imaging and Therapy (MITH)
• Translational Oncology Research Center (TORC) 

Together, they aim at improving and supporting immune-based and immune-oriented therapies in cancer and other diseases that are affected by immunity. 

The multidisciplinary INTEGRAL platform

The INTEGRAL consortium offers of services and tools across various disciplines, from preclinical and translational research up to clinical translation, for 5 interrelated aspects of improved immunotherapy:

1. IMAGING: Whole body immune imaging, using tracers based on single-domain antigen binding fragments (nanobodies) raised against selected immune markers. These will be tools for patient stratification and for monitoring the effect of immune-targeted therapies.
2. MODE OF ACTION: In vivo and in vitro immune analyses of mode-of-action and therapy resistance mechanisms, as a supporting modality for drug development;
3. MODULATION: Immune modulation using nanobodies targeting selected immune markers or mRNA-LNPs, in order to attenuate immune checkpoints and immunosuppressive cell populations;
4. ACTIVATION: New and improved immune-based and immune-oriented molecular therapies, including targeted radionuclide therapy, mRNA, LNP and/or protein-based vaccines and therapeutics.
5. REPLACE: Innovative cell-based therapies to replace and/or complement immune cell populations (CAR-T cells, dendritic cells, brain microglia).