The NKEngage project, funded under the Eurostars program (Vinnova/Eureka), has successfully concluded after achieving its research goals. The consortium delivered preclinical proof-of-concept for a novel affibody polypeptide designed for Natural Killer (NK) cell-mediated immunotherapy targeting multiple myeloma (MM) — an aggressive and currently incurable blood cancer.
Key outcomes:
- Demonstrated efficacy in activating NK cells against primary MM samples, overcoming inhibitory mechanisms and promoting serial tumour cell killing.
- Improved our processes for producing and characterizing our polypeptides/affibodies.
- Strengthened collaboration between academic and industry partners across Europe, paving the way for future projects.
- As an interesting extra discovery, the project could demonstrate therapeutic potential for autoimmune conditions.
Next steps:
Building on these results, the next step is to focus on final preclinical studies and explore potential commercialization strategies to accelerate clinical translation.