Ep#038: Unleashing the full power of CAR-T cells with Dr. Eric von Hofe

02/23/22 • 34 min

In this episode we are returning to a very exciting topic of immunooncology and we will talk in detail about novel approaches to treat cancer, based on CAR-T cell technology.
Please welcome Dr. Eric von Hofe, the Senior Advisor and former President of Affyimmune Therapeutics. Eric’s story is a showcase of a remarkable career in the biotech industry. Eric studied Biology at UC Berkeley and received his PhD from the University of Southern California. HEric continued his career in cancer research doing two PostDocs at ETH Zurich and Harvard and then taking a position of Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In 1992 Eric made a transition to the biopharmaceutical industry leading the development of antisense oligonucleotide therapies at Hybridon. Eric subsequently led multidisciplinary drug development programs at Millennium Pharmaceuticals as a Director of Drug Discovery Research. Eric has been fundamental for two prominent immuno-oncology companies: Antigen Express, a company focusing on peptide-based cancer vaccines; and Affyimmune Therapeutics, a biotech startup developing novel approaches for CAR-T cell based therapies. With about 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals and four patents Eric is a true expert in the field of oncology
Together with Eric we discussed:
Differences between career in academia and industry
Evolution of therapeutic landscape in oncology over the last 30 years
Role of immunology in development of novel cancer therapies
CAR-T cells and their role in combating cancer
Affinity tuning of CAR-T cells as mechanism to decrease off-target effect
Cancer vaccines: peptide vs mRNA
The future of immunooncology
Get in touch with Eric:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericvonhofe/
Email: [email protected]
Web: https://affyimmune.com/
Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Previous Episode

Ep#037: Making Personalized Medicine Available to Every Patient with Christopher Wells

Welcome to the next episode of the Personalized Medicine Podcast. On this show we typically talk about science and technology driving the progress in personalized medicine. But the policy side of things and patient access are equally important.
We are happy to welcome on our podcast Christopher Wells, the Vice President of Public Affairs at the Personalized Medicine Coalition. Chris has recently published an article in STAT in which he eloquently described why we cannot narrow down personalized medicine just to cancer and need to look at it through a larger lens. And this is what we have discussed with Chris in this interview.
Tune in to this episode to learn more about:
Personalized Medicine beyond #genomics and #cancer
What is the Personalized Medicine Coalition and what are its goals?
Difficulties and success stories of bringing healthcare stakeholders together
The role of government in driving personalized medicine agenda
Role of physician education in implementation of personalized medicine approaches
Generation of reliable clinical data to support personalized medicine implementation
Challenge of equal patient access to personalized therapies
The outlook on the future of personalized medicine
Get in touch with Chris:
LinkedIn: Christopher Wells, M.P.A.
Twitter: @permedcoalition
Web: https://www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org/
Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Next Episode

Special Episode: Ukraine

Thank you very much for tuning into this special episode of the Personalized Medicine Podcast. Some of you might know that our founder and host Oleksandr (a.k.a. Sasha) is Ukrainian. In this difficult moment for his country, Sasha shares his thoughts on current situation in Ukraine and explains how anyone in the world can help and support people of Ukraine and its scientific community.
Out team has prepared a list of trusted organizations and charitable foundations supporting Ukraine at the moment:
Support Ukrainian military (Official Bank Account of Ukrainian Ministry of Defense): https://bit.ly/35Kl4Gy
Humanitarian aid organizations providing aid for Ukrainians affected by war:
◦ Ukraine Humanitarian Fund managed by United Nations https://crisisrelief.un.org/t/ukraine - The Ukraine Humanitarian Fund is one of the UN's country-based pooled funds. Contributions are collected into a single, unearmarked fund and managed locally under UN leadership. As crises evolve, funds are made directly and immediately available to a wide range of partner organizations at the front lines of response. This way, funding reaches the people most in need when they need it
◦ Voices of Children - https://voices.org.ua/en/ - Charitable Foundation Voices of Children helps children affected by the war in (eastern) Ukraine. They provide psychological and psychosocial support to children. It helps them overcome the consequences of armed conflict
◦ Vostok-SOS - https://vostok-sos.org/en/ - Non-profit organization focused on comprehensive assistance to conflict-affected persons and IDPs, promoting democratic transformation and human rights values in Ukraine
If you would like to host a refugee, you can register at one of the following platforms:
◦ https://www.eu4ua.org/
◦ https://www.unterkunft-ukraine.de/
◦ https://www.ukraineshelter.com/en/
The global list of research groups and labs that are supporting Ukrainian scientists. Feel free to add your group or share this list with fellow Ukrainian scientists in need of help: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HqTKukfJGpmowQnSh4CoFn3T6HXcNS1T1pK-Xx9CknQ/edit?usp=sharing
Thank you very much for your support! You are awesome!
Stay safe
Peace