Farcast Biosciences, a research solutions company and developer of the TruTumor platform—a large fragment, near-native tumor preservation and histo-culture platform enabling precision tumor microenvironment characterization and drug response prediction—today announced that it has been selected to deliver the Keynote Opening Address during hubXchange’s West Coast Immuno-Oncology Xchange, taking place on September 24th in San Francisco, California. The event serves as a collaborative forum, bringing together thought leaders and subject matter experts in the field of Immuno-Oncology from diverse backgrounds, including pharma, biotech, and life sciences, to collaboratively discuss and find solutions to key obstacles facing drug research, development, and patient care today.

Farcast Biosciences’ Opening Keynote Address, “Unlocking Tumor-Immune Dynamics: How TruTumor Histoculture Reveals Head and Neck Cancer Responses to Checkpoint Therapy” will dive into the outcomes of a recent study where TruTumor was used to analyze and characterize TME (tumor microenvironment) responses to anti-PD1 therapy in head and neck cancer patients.

"We are thrilled to have Farcast Biosciences deliver the Keynote at this year’s Immuno-Oncology Xchange in San Francisco. Their cutting-edge TruTumor platform represents a significant leap forward in understanding the tumor microenvironment and its role in immunotherapy responses. It’s collaborations like these that foster innovation and push the boundaries of what is possible in cancer research. We are delighted to have Farcast as our leading partner" said Clarence Maguire-Swartz, Founder & Managing Director,  hubXchange.

Keynote and Opening Address Abstract:

Dynamic interactions in the tumor microenvironment influence patient responses to immune modulating therapies. Current preclinical models fail to capture this complexity accurately, often leading to poor translation into human clinical trials. Using our proprietary TruTumor platform, we analyzed responses to anti-PD1 therapy in head and neck cancer patients. By integrating spatial, genomic, proteomic, and cellular multiomic analyses, we assessed immune cell populations, T-cell activity, cytokine levels, and tumor cytotoxicity. Patients were stratified into five sub-cohorts, with extremes showing the best and worst responses. High responders had robust T-cell reinvigoration and increased tumor cytotoxicity, while non-responders showed immune suppression and tumor progression. Some intermediate responders demonstrated improved results with anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 combinations, evident from better T-cell ratios and enhanced tumor cytotoxicity. This approach provides a valuable tool for studying drug responses in human-derived tumors, offering insights into mechanisms, pharmacodynamics, and potential biosignatures for predicting responses before clinical trials.

Speaker: Christopher Davitt, PhD, Director, Partnership and Commercial Strategy, Farcast Biosciences.

"I am honored to present the Keynote and Opening Address at hubXchange’s Immuno-Oncology Xchange in San Francisco. The opportunity to present the work of the Farcast team, to meet with leaders in the field, and to discuss how novel insights into the mechanisms of action and deep characterization of the tumor microenvironment can revolutionize drug discovery, development, and ultimately enhance patient care is very exciting," said Christopher Davitt, PhD, Director of Partnerships and Commercial Strategy at Farcast Biosciences.

Farcast will also present a poster: “Large Tumor Fragment 3D Tissue Culture Enables Multiomic Characterization of Differential T cell Responses within the Native Tumor Microenvironment Across Multiple Indications”, detailing the use of TruTumor to characterize T-cell responses to checkpoint inhibitors across multiple solid tumor indications, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, stomach adenocarcinoma, and ovarian cancer.

For more information about this event please visit: https://bit.ly/47eNxQj

About Farcast Biosciences

Since its inception in a lab at MIT Farcast Biosciences has pioneered TME research and developed a proprietary platform that retains the native architecture of tumor micro-environment. Farcast Biosciences is dedicated to continuous innovation, developing novel assay platforms to improve cancer patient care and accelerate drug development through cutting-edge preclinical, translational, and clinical research solutions. Farcast’s approach leverages multiple complementary platforms, including a network of top-tier cancer treatment institutions, TruNet, enabling access to fresh patient tumor samples; and a proprietary near-native tumor tissue culture platform, TruTumor, allowing the capture of tumor, stroma, and immune cells in their native biological state and spatial distributions in the tumor microenvironment and comprehensively analyzing these utilizing an integrated suite of multiomic tools. Collaboratively, our experienced team of cell biologists, immunologists, pathologists and cancer biologists generate comprehensive and multiparametric biosignatures, TruSign, yielding valuable and unique insights into mechanisms of action of novel treatment strategies, for new and existing drugs, and matching patients to the right therapies. This approach allows for better-informed and de-risked preclinical and clinical development of drugs for our biopharma collaborations and recommends the most effective treatment strategies for patients in our network of clinical institutions. For more information, visit www.FarcastBio.com.