DG-GT-Price for Innovative LEC-CAR therapy approach

The German Society for Gene Therapy (DG-GT) is an association of physicians, natural scientists and other professional groups who deal with questions of experimental and clinical gene therapy. Every quarter, the society awards high-ranking gene therapy publications with the DG-GT "Paper of the Quarter" price. In Q4/22, a current publication by PD Dr. rer. nat. Kerstin Cornils and Dr. rer. nat. Anna-Katharina Franke (AG Müller) was convincing, in which a novel therapeutic approach for cancer entities for which no antibody CAR has been available so far is presented. The researchers describe for the first time the functionality of a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) based on the binding of C-type lectins to glycan structures. The novel LEC-CAR concept offers several advantages over normal antibody-based CARs: broader applicability, short generation time and low immunogenicity.