As Australia’s leading immuno-oncology company, oNKo-innate is tackling some of the major challenges in the treatment of solid tumors. With extensive expertise in immunology and immunotherapy, including CAR T cell therapy, Dr. Imran House and Dr. Junyun Lai (Jun) currently work as senior scientists in oNKo’s functional genomics unit in Melbourne, Australia.
Imran and Jun recently spoke with Synthego’s Vice President of Science, Dr. Kevin Holden, and science writer Dr. Rebecca Roberts (Bec), on the CRISPR Cuts podcast, where they discuss their work generating novel therapies for solid tumors. In this interview, they discuss their experience leaving academia for a biotech startup, the company’s goals and their advanced CRISPR screening platform, the challenges of editing primary cells in vitro and in vivo, and the broader impact of CRISPR in cancer research. They also delve into cytokine therapies and the obstacles to their successful clinical translation, CAR T cell therapies, and the potential of moving oNKo’s pipeline assets into clinical trials.