Achilles Therapeutics Plc (ACHL)

[jondoeuk]

“HLA loss is an important mechanism of immune escape in cancer, and neoantigens that are only presented by HLA alleles that are lost in a tumor are unlikely to represent effective therapeutic targets. By determining which specific HLA alleles might have been lost, we can focus therapeutic efforts on neoantigens that are much more likely to elicit a response,” said Dr Sergio Quezada, Chief Scientific Officer of Achilles Therapeutics. “Crucially, the method described in the patent uses sequencing data that is commonly available for tumors, so both the neoantigen identification and the detection of HLA loss can be performed from the same sequencing data. We are currently using this technology within our PELEUSTM bioinformatics platform for research purposes and look forward to determining how to best use it to guide decisions in our clinical trials and beyond.”

The method described in the patent relies on the calculation of an allele-specific copy number for HLA alleles by aligning sequence data to a patient specific reference rather than a standard genomic reference. The patent covers research performed by Achilles co-founder Prof. Charlie Swanton and his academic team, first published in Cell 2017 https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)31185-6

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/achilles-therapeutics-announces-grant-us-110000522.html