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Letter from the Director 

Time flies! It’s already 2023, and the NextGenNK Competence Center is entering into its fourth year of operation. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, NextGenNK has developed into a well-recognized and respected international entity within the ever growing field of new NK cell-based therapeutics. Evaluating the clinical cell therapy field, NK cell-based immunotherapies now represent the second largest area in terms of all immune cells currently tested in clinical trials, only preceded by T cells. Members of the NextGenNK Competence Center in collaboration with industrial Partners have contributed to several of them. Importantly, they have also taken on an ever expanding role as advisors for many national, and not the least international, health care and industrial actors in the field. This is a good sign of recognition.

Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, Director

Photo: Ulf Sirborn

As much as the field is advancing, and progress is being made with exciting clinical results from many clinical trials, development is however not always straightforward. Many questions prevail, and setbacks do occur from time to time. This is inevitable in a new clinical research field. While it may disappoint academic scientists, industrial developers as well as investors in the short term, it contributes to afterthought, and in the long run, new solutions, better products and improved clinical outcomes. The latter is important, not the least having the patient in mind. Ultimately, improving human health through new NK cell-based products is our goal.

We are also facing grand challenges. One such challenge deals with the development of strategies towards targeting solid tumors. Indeed, over the last 10 years, we have seen a large number of successful clinical trials being concluded in the hematological space, not the least when it comes to early clinical trials. It has led academic scientists, as well as industry, to look into the prospects of targeting solid tumors with NK cell-based therapies. Such strategies present challenges, as the cells administrated intravenously need not only to find their way to the tumors, but also need to penetrate the tumors, survive and function in an often immunosuppressive and hypoxic environment. Adding to this, many current NK cell-based immunotherapies are for good reasons allogeneic, but this leads to questions when it comes to strategies to avoid rejection and increase persistence. All these, and many other questions, contribute towards keeping ourselves busy in this exciting area, and time, of medicine.

Following last year’s successful NextGenNK activities in Stockholm, with individual and joint meetings, site visits, and general assembly we foresee several interactive meetings in 2023. In this context, we are very excited to inform you that this year, the international NK cell meeting, NK2023, will be hosted by NK cell scientists from Scandinavia, many of them being part of the NextGenNK Competence Center. The NK2023 meeting will take place at Holmenkollen Park Hotel, Oslo, September 27-29, 2023. NK2023 will be preceded by a meeting workshop – “NK cells in the clinic”, September 26th, 2023, also at Holmenkollen Park Hotel, Olso, which will be cohosted by the NextGenNK Competence Center.

Picture from one of the meetings with Center Partners during NextGenNK week 2022. Photo: Carin Dahlberg

Sorrento leadership team visiting Karolinska Institutet in September 2022. From left; Wenzhong Guo, Colin Powers, Robbie Allen, John Dixon Grey, Evren Alici (KI), Bill Farley. Photo: Carin Dahlberg

Under the heading "Spotlight," we present Partners involved in the NextGenNK Competence Center. Sorrento Therapeutics is a San Diego, US, based immuno-oncology-centric company. The company's portfolio includes immune checkpoint inhibitors, bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), oncolytic viruses as well as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and dimeric antigen receptor (DAR) based cellular therapies. For more info, please visit Sorrento's website.

Tell us about your research

A central goal of our research is to better understand how NK cells can distinguish between healthy and aberrant cells. For this, we delineate molecular signals that allow NK cells to recognize and eliminate virus-infected or tumor-transformed cells.

When did I first hear the about NK cells?

Apart from very basic textbooks or lectures, my first real contact with NK cells was when I completed a lab rotation in the group of Prof. Chiara Romagnani. At first, I was rather confused by the complexity of NK cells, but I quickly grew very fond of them (including their complexity!) and I had a fantastic time in Chiara’s lab.

What do you wish to achieve with your research?

Ultimately, we seek to apply our knowledge for the benefit of patients. In this regard, NK cell-based immunotherapies are outstanding opportunities to translate our deep understanding of NK cell functional regulation into novel therapeutic approaches. The NextGenNK competence center represents an optimal platform for this transformative aspect of our work.

Quirin Hammer, PhD
Photo: Tyler Sandberg