TechBio Innovator Etcembly Reveals World’s First Generative AI-designed Bispecific T Cell Engager With Picomolar Affinity

British techbio innovator Etcembly is coming out of stealth mode, kickstarting the next generation of immunotherapies with a pipeline of best-in-class T cell receptor (TCR) therapeutics designed using generative AI.

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TCRs have the potential to become a prominent drug class but have been hampered by the huge complexities of the system. Etcembly’s breakthrough technologies sweep aside these hurdles and will undoubtedly lead to a game-changing acceleration of the field.

The company’s lead therapeutic programme, ETC-101, is the world’s first AI-designed bispecific T cell engager. It targets PRAME, a validated antigen present in many cancers.

The lead asset currently demonstrates single digit picomolar affinity – a million-fold higher affinity than the native receptor – with no known cross-reactivity. Etcembly has advanced ETC-101 to this stage in 11 months, compared with 2+ years for conventional TCR pipelines. Future programmes should be even faster now the platform is established, and include first-in-class assets against undisclosed targets in oncology and autoimmune disease.

Etcembly’s innovative AI engine EMLy uses generative large language models (LLMs) to rapidly predict, design and validate TCR candidates. EMLy scans hundreds of millions of TCR sequences then engineers them to achieve low pM affinity and eliminate cross-reactivity.

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This groundbreaking approach overcomes the barriers holding back the discovery and engineering of TCR candidates, accelerating the development of high-quality, potent and safe immunotherapies.

Co-founder and CEO Michelle Teng said, “Etcembly was born from our desire to bring together two concepts that are ahead of the scientific mainstream – TCRs and generative AI – to design the next generation of immunotherapies. It’s a real testament to the tenacity of our team and our technology that we’ve generated a robust pipeline with first-in-class applications within a few years, and I’m excited to take these assets forward so we can make the future of TCR therapeutics a reality and bring transformative treatments to patients.”

Bent Jakobsen, immunotherapy pioneer and Etcembly board member, said, “Having headed up the development of TCR therapeutics for many years, it’s exciting to see a new platform with such power to deliver and engineer these therapies. I believe TCRs have the potential to become a prominent drug class but it has been hampered by the difficulties involved with the huge complexities of the system. Etcembly’s breakthrough technologies sweep aside these hurdles and will undoubtedly lead to a game-changing acceleration of the TCR field.”

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therapeutics
immunotherapy