Alaunos (TCRT) — my top speculative pick for 2023 — is a true next generation CAR-T cell therapy company focused on treating solid tumors, explains John McCamant, biotechnology specialist and editor of The Medical Technology Stock Letter.
The technology incorporates T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies based on its proprietary, non-viral Sleeping Beauty gene transfer technology and its TCR library targeting shared tumor-specific hotspot mutations in key oncogenic genes including KRAS, TP53 and EGFR which are prevalent in solid tumors.
Sleeping beauty is a proprietary non-viral delivery system that allows for repeat dosing and improved manufacturing efficiencies compared to using viruses for cell therapy. The company has a clinical and strategic collaboration with the National Cancer Institute and one of the world’s leading immune oncologist, Dr. Steven Rosenberg.
To date, TCRT is the only public company to have successfully dosed human solid tumor patients with CAR-T therapy demonstrating sustained proof-of-concept with Patient #1 who had a partial response and at 24 weeks approximately 30% of all T-cells were TCR-T cells.
CAR-T therapies for cancer have the potential to offer a potential “cure” for patients with success to date only being achieved in much easier to target liquid/blood tumors. CAR-T therapy for solid tumors is a huge unmet medical need, and in our view, TCRT is a leader in the cutting edge space.
The company continues to make progress on both the clinical and manufacturing fronts which should result in more patients being treated faster in 2023.
In our view, proof-of-concept has been established with Patient #1 who had a partial response and at 24 weeks approximately 30% of all T-cells were TCR-T cells. We expect TCRT to increase patient enrollment in 2023 as they continue to improve the manufacturing process and widen their net to screen more eligible patients.
In our view, TCRT is the leader in developing CAR-T treatments for solid tumors and POC has been established with Patient #1 who had a partial response and at 24 weeks approximately 30% of all T-cells were TCR-T cells. The company is poised to become the leader in delivering cutting edge CAR-T therapy for solid tumors in 2023. TCRT is a BUY under 5 with a TARGET PRICE of 12.
