ICLE 2022 | Applying AvidCAR T-cells in a clinical setting

Michael Traxlmayr, PhD, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, comments on the benefits and potential uses of avidity-controlled chimeric antigen receptor (AvidCAR) T-cells. AvidCAR T-cells require bivalent antigen engagement as a result of a reduced antigen-binding affinity, increasing the specificity of AvidCAR T-cells and sparing bystander cells. The AvidCAR platform additionally dimerizes CARs, enabling regulation of CAR activity with a small molecule inhibitor and Dr Traxlmayr suggests expression of clinically relevant antigen pairs to optimize AvidCAR T-cell design. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.