Clinical development of a new targeted therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer

A new class of biologic drug, called ImmTACs, is being developed to target prostate cancer by recognising changes inside cancerous cells that current therapies cannot reach. This matters because prostate cancer, like many solid tumours, has been largely resistant to targeted biological therapies. Traditional chemotherapy attacks both cancerous and healthy cells, causing severe side effects. ImmTACs work differently: they are engineered to detect intracellular proteins that are unique to cancer cells, then redirect the body’s own immune T-cells to destroy those cells. This approach could open up a whole category of previously untreatable cancers to precision medicine. If this project succeeds, it will produce a new ImmTAC therapy ready for safety and efficacy testing in prostate cancer patients. The immediate impact would be a treatment option for men whose cancer has stopped responding to existing therapies. In the longer term, the same platform technology could be adapted to target other cancers with intracellular mutations, potentially shifting how oncologists treat solid tumours across the board. The project culminates in first-in-human trials, moving directly from laboratory development to patient testing.