Welcome to the next episode of the Personalized Medicine Podcast. On this podcast we have talked extensively about antibody, vaccine and CAR-T cell based approaches to treat cancer. Today we will be talking about a new approach in oncology that is based on invariant Natural Killer T Cells, or iNKTs.
Our guest today is Dr. Jennifer Buell, the founder, CEO and President of MiNK Therapeutics and the former President and COO of Agenus. Jennifer has over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical space, having held multiple leadership positions at biotech companies. In her tenure at Agenus, she transformed a neoantigen vaccine development startup into a multifaceted company with a strong global footing. She is now leading MiNK therapeutics, the precision oncology company that develops targeted iNKT cells for treatment of various types of cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Together with Jennifer we discussed: ◦ Evolution of immunooncology over the the last two decades ◦ Role of immune system in fighting cancer ◦ Neoantigen vaccines as a tool for personalized cancer treatment ◦ Invariant Natural Killer T Cells (iNKTs) and their role in combating cancer ◦ Advantage of iNKTs over other cancer treatments ◦ Potential of combination therapies in oncology ◦ Challenges in bringing novel cell-based therapies to the market ◦ Advice to budding biotech entrepreneurs ◦ The outlook on the next decade of cancer treatment
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