Virus used in promising cancer therapy made by Boreal Biomanufacturing at The Ottawa Hospital
Boreal Biomanufacturing (Boreal) has been turning cells, genes and viruses into promising new therapies at The Ottawa Hospital and beyond for nearly 20 years.
Now, a major research study published in Nature Cancer shows that a therapy manufactured in part at Boreal holds promise for the treatment of a rare cancer.
The research focuses on a personalized cancer treatment that involves isolating immune cells from a patient, genetically modifying and expanding them in a lab, and then giving them back to the same patient. This personalized treatment approach, called Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) therapy, has been hailed as a breakthrough for certain kinds of blood cancer, but has not achieved the same success in solid cancers yet.
The new study, led by the University of Calgary, involved developing a novel kind of CAR-T therapy for a rare solid cancer called alveolar soft part sarcoma. The therapy showed promise in laboratory models and in two patients who participated in a clinical trial.
Boreal manufactured the virus that was used to genetically modify the patients’ immune cells. Boreal is the only facility in Canada with a proven ability to make this kind of virus for use in humans.
Boreal also manufactures similar viruses for the Canadian-led Immunotherapies Collaborative (CLIC), co-led by The Ottawa Hospital and BC Cancer. This cross-Canada network developed the first made-in-Canada CAR-T therapy for blood cancers.
Building on the latest promising research results, the team in Calgary is collaborating with researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and other major hospitals to open a larger clinical trial later this year.
“This is exactly the kind of impact Boreal Biomanufacturing was created to support,” said Eric Lee, General Manager of Boreal. “It’s exciting to see another example of an advanced therapy that we helped develop showing this kind of clinical promise.”
Learn more about this research from the University of Calgary for details. The Ottawa Hospital’s Dr. John Bell and Dr. Jennifer Quizi are co-authors on the publication in Nature Cancer.
A companion study led by McMaster University and published in Nature shows that this novel CAR-T therapy can also treat brain cancer in laboratory models.
About The Ottawa Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) is one of Canada’s top learning and research hospitals where we are guided by our vision to provide the world-class and compassionate care we would all want for our loved ones. Our multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, is home to the Regional Trauma Centre and Cancer Centre, and to discoveries that are adopted globally. Backed by generous support from the community, we are focused on reshaping the future of health care to improve the health of our diverse population of patients from Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Nunavut. www.ottawahospital.on.ca
About Boreal Biomanufacturing
Boreal Biomanufacturing is a cell and gene therapy CDMO focused on turning promising breakthroughs into clinically proven and commercially viable advanced oncology and complex disease therapies. With nearly two decades of success embedded in The Ottawa Hospital, one of Canada’s largest research hospitals, Boreal brings together translational expertise, early phase clinical trial capabilities, and direct access to patients, and has become a trusted partner for early-phase clinical trials across North America, Europe, and Asia. Learn more at boreal-bio.com.
