First TIL Cell Therapy Approval Paves Way For Next Generation

The approach behind Amtagvi is a cell therapy conceived by Steve Rosenberg at the National Cancer Institute and has been in development since the late-1980s. The immune system is in constant surveillance and when cancer is detected, lymphocytes (white blood cells) traffic to the tumor to attack and destroy the cancer. The immune cells that enter the tumor are called Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes, or TIL, and will include T-cells that recognize distinctive tumor markers (neoantigens) on the cell surface of each person’s cancer. When cancer develops and prevails, the body’s natural TIL can no longer perform their intended function to fight the disease but can be harvested from the tumor and reactivated and reprogrammed as a drug.

The approval of the Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.'s product is a game changer for researchers and companies developing T-cell-based cancer...