Transgene (company)

Transgene S.A. is a French biotechnology company founded in 1979. It is based in Illkirch-Graffenstaden, near Strasbourg, and develops and manufactures immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer.

Transgene S.A.
TypePublic (S.A.)
Euronext Paris: TNG
Industry
FoundedDecember 1979
Founders
Headquarters
Illkirch-Graffenstaden
,
France
Key people
Hedi Ben Brahim (President and CEO)
Websitewww.transgene.fr

The company has two technological platforms based on these respective approaches: myvac (therapeutic vaccines) and Invir.IO (oncolytic viruses). Transgene’s portfolio consists of four products currently in clinical development.

Since January 2021, Hedi Ben Brahim has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Transgene SA. The company is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.[1][2]

History

Transgene was founded in 1979, on the initiative of Pierre Chambon and Philippe Kourilsky. Jean-Pierre Lecocq was the first Scientific Director of Transgene in 1980.[3]

Technological platforms

Transgene owns two technological platforms:

  • Invir.IO is a technology platform based on the patented oncolytic viruses that replicate only in cancer cells. The genome of these viruses has been modified to express anti-tumor therapies directly within the tumor.[4][5][6]
  • Myvac is a platform for individualized therapeutic vaccines based on MVA viruses. [7] The platform enables the design of personalized viruses based on each patient’s tumor mutations.[8] Transgene selects around 30 neoantigens per patient, based on the AI of its partner NEC, and then encodes them into viral DNA.[9]

Products in development

The Company has 4 clinical-stage products in its portfolio. These candidates are distinguished according to two product categories: therapeutic vaccines and oncolytic viruses.

• Therapeutic vaccines:

- “TG4001” is a therapeutic vaccine designed to express the E6 and E7 antigens of the HPV-16 virus (human papillomavirus type 16).[10] It is currently in a Phase Ib/II clinical trial[11] evaluating TG4001 in combination with avelumab (in collaboration with Merck KGaA and Pfizer) in patients with advanced or metastatic HPV-16 positive cancers.[12][13]

- “TG4050” is an individualized immunotherapy from the myvac® platform. This candidate is currently evaluated in two Phase I clinical trials in ovarian cancer and Head and Neck cancer.[14][15][16] The trials are enrolling patients in the US, in France, and in the UK.[17]

• Oncolytic viruses

- “TG6002” is an oncolytic virus designed to express a recombinant enzyme within tumor cells capable of converting 5-FC (5-fluorocytosine) into 5-FU (5-fluorouracil), a chemotherapy agent.[18] The expression of this enzyme is enabled by the addition of the FCU1 gene into the viral DNA of TG6002.[19]

- “BT-001” is an oncolytic virus derived from Invir.IO™ platform.[20] It has been modified to encode the anti-CTLA4 antibody and the cytokine GM-CSF to target the tumor microenvironment. BT-001 is currently being evaluated in a Phase I/II clinical trial in solid tumors. [21][22] Transgene is collaborating with BioInvent for the development of this product.[23]

- Transgene and AstraZeneca have been collaborating since 2019 to co-develop oncolytic viruses from the Invir.IO™ platform.[24][25][26]

Management Committee

Transgene’s Management Committee is composed of the following members:

  • Hedi Ben Brahim, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer (CEO);
  • Éric Quéméneur, Executive Vice-President, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO);
  • Christophe Ancel, Vice-President Pharmaceutical Operations & Qualified Pharmacist;
  • Maud Brandely-Talbot, Vice-President Medical Affairs, Chief Medical Officer (CMO);
  • Jean-Philippe Del, Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO);
  • Thibaut du Fayet, Vice-President Corporate Development;
  • John Felitti, Vice-President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary;
  • Gaëlle Stadtler, Vice-President, Human Resources Director.

References
  1. "Transgene". Euronext Live markets.
  2. "CureVac hires GSK Vaccines veteran Blanc as CBO and chief commercial officer; plus moves at Spero, 4D, Transgene, Achilles and Datavant". BioCentury. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  3. Lathe, Richard; Kieny, Marie Paule (2021-04-26). The Early Development of the Vaccinia–Rabies Recombinant Vaccine Raboral®. IntechOpen. ISBN 978-1-83969-230-7.
  4. Foloppe, Johann; Kempf, Juliette; Futin, Nicolas; Kintz, Jacqueline; Cordier, Pascale; Pichon, Christelle; Findeli, Annie; Vorburger, Fabien; Quemeneur, Eric; Erbs, Philippe (September 2019). "The Enhanced Tumor Specificity of TG6002, an Armed Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus Deleted in Two Genes Involved in Nucleotide Metabolism". Molecular Therapy - Oncolytics. 14: 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.omto.2019.03.005. PMC 6461584. PMID 31011628.
  5. Gallardo, Franck; Schmitt, Doris; Brandely, Renée; Brua, Catherine; Silvestre, Nathalie; Findeli, Annie; Foloppe, Johann; Top, Sokunthea; Kappler-Gratias, Sandrine; Quentin-Froignant, Charlotte; Morin, Renaud; Lagarde, Jean-Michel; Bystricky, Kerstin; Bertagnoli, Stéphane; Erbs, Philippe (26 November 2020). "Fluorescent Tagged Vaccinia Virus Genome Allows Rapid and Efficient Measurement of Oncolytic Potential and Discovery of Oncolytic Modulators". Biomedicines. 8 (12): 543. doi:10.3390/biomedicines8120543. PMC 7760631. PMID 33256205.
  6. Kleinpeter, Patricia; Fend, Laetitia; Thioudellet, Christine; Geist, Michel; Sfrontato, Nathalie; Koerper, Véronique; Fahrner, Catherine; Schmitt, Doris; Gantzer, Murielle; Remy-Ziller, Christelle; Brandely, Renée; Villeval, Dominique; Rittner, Karola; Silvestre, Nathalie; Erbs, Philippe; Zitvogel, Laurence; Quéméneur, Eric; Préville, Xavier; Marchand, Jean-Baptiste (2 October 2016). "Vectorization in an oncolytic vaccinia virus of an antibody, a Fab and a scFv against programmed cell death -1 (PD-1) allows their intratumoral delivery and an improved tumor-growth inhibition". OncoImmunology. 5 (10): e1220467. doi:10.1080/2162402X.2016.1220467. PMC 5087307. PMID 27853644.
  7. "Transgene, NEC, BostonGene collaborate for ovarian and head & neck cancers trials". www.biospectrumasia.com.
  8. Bendjama, Kaïdre; Quemeneur, Eric (2 September 2017). "Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara-based vaccines in the era of personalized immunotherapy of cancer". Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. 13 (9): 1997–2003. doi:10.1080/21645515.2017.1334746. PMC 5612284. PMID 28846477.
  9. "NEC and Transgene announce a collaboration in the field of individualized cancer immunotherapy, leveraging NEC's AI and Transgene's myvac™ platform". NEC.
  10. "TG4001 HPV Cancer Vaccine".
  11. "In the clinic for March 11, 2021".
  12. Clinical trial number NCT03260023 for "Phase Ib/II of TG4001 and Avelumab in HPV16 Positive R/M Cancers" at ClinicalTrials.gov
  13. "Merck KGaA in Transgene cancer vaccine-checkpoint inhibitor test tie-up". 12 October 2016.
  14. Clinical trial number NCT03839524 for "A Trial Evaluating TG4050 in Ovarian Carcinoma" at ClinicalTrials.gov
  15. "In the clinic for June 28, 2021".
  16. Clinical trial number NCT04183166 for "A Clinical Trial Evaluating TG4050 in Head and Neck Cancer" at ClinicalTrials.gov
  17. "Gamechanging 'vaccine for cancer' trial begins in Liverpool". 27 June 2021.
  18. Foloppe, Johann; Kempf, Juliette; Futin, Nicolas; Kintz, Jacqueline; Cordier, Pascale; Pichon, Christelle; Findeli, Annie; Vorburger, Fabien; Quemeneur, Eric; Erbs, Philippe (27 September 2019). "The Enhanced Tumor Specificity of TG6002, an Armed Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus Deleted in Two Genes Involved in Nucleotide Metabolism". Molecular Therapy - Oncolytics. 14: 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.omto.2019.03.005. PMC 6461584. PMID 31011628.
  19. Foloppe, Johann; Kempf, Juliette; Futin, Nicolas; Kintz, Jacqueline; Cordier, Pascale; Pichon, Christelle; Findeli, Annie; Vorburger, Fabien; Quemeneur, Eric; Erbs, Philippe (27 September 2019). "The Enhanced Tumor Specificity of TG6002, an Armed Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus Deleted in Two Genes Involved in Nucleotide Metabolism". Molecular Therapy - Oncolytics. 14: 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.omto.2019.03.005. PMC 6461584. PMID 31011628.
  20. "First person enrolled in Phase I oncolytic virus trial".
  21. Clinical trial number NCT04725331 for "A Clinical Trial Assessing BT-001 Alone and in Combination With Pembrolizumab in Metastatic or Advanced Solid Tumors" at ClinicalTrials.gov
  22. "Regulatory actions for May 27, 2021".
  23. "BioInvent presents proof-of-concept data on anti-FcyRIIB antibody BI-1607 at AACR Annual Meeting 2021".
  24. "AstraZeneca ties up with France's Transgene to develop viral immunotherapies". Reuters. 2 May 2019.
  25. "Transgene's armed oncolytic virus technology draws AZ in potential five-product deal".
  26. "AstraZeneca adds oncolytic virus option through Transgene deal".
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