Discovering immune codes to provide safe and effective medicines to patients

The immune system has evolved to recognize and kill cells infected with pathogens by discriminating between potentially dangerous foreign proteins and harmless “self” proteins that should be ignored. Similarly, our immune system can recognize and kill damaged or transformed cells that, if not controlled, can cause cancer. This immune surveillance mechanism is driven by a vast diversity of T cells within the body, called the T cell repertoire, that are uniquely capable of recognizing markers, called epitopes, on cells. Once an epitope is recognized on an infected or cancerous cell, the T cell repertoire use precise immune codes to orchestrate a comprehensive immune response to eliminate the cell.

As sophisticated as the immune system is, it is not perfect. Cancer cells often develop mechanisms to evade the immune system, which allow them to survive, proliferate and spread, thereby causing cancer to progress. Furthermore, inappropriate immune activation can occur where T cells attack healthy tissue, resulting in autoimmune disease.

At Repertoire, we discover the immune codes to design T cell receptor (TCR) bispecific molecules and mRNA cancer vaccines that selectively eliminate tumors in cancer patients and mRNA tolerizing vaccines that restore immune balance in patients with autoimmune disease.

By programming the immune system to take action against disease, we are working to bring hope to those patients with few other options.