CIR-NK

CIR-NK is an allogeneic natural killer (NK) cell therapy engineered with Chimeric ILT Receptors (CIR) designed to target HLA-G, an immunosuppressive MHC-IB molecule often overexpressed in various cancers to evade immune responses. Developed by NKILT Therapeutics, these cells utilize the natural HLA-G binding domains of immunoglobulin-like transcript (ILT) receptors (such as ILT2 and ILT4) rather than traditional antibody-derived scFvs to achieve high specificity across diverse HLA-G isoforms. The CIR constructs incorporate multiple intracellular signaling domains, including CD3ζ, 4-1BB, DAP10, and MyD88, to enhance anti-tumor cytotoxicity and functional persistence. Additionally, the cells are engineered to express soluble IL-15 to support survival and a DCD19 marker. CIR-NK has demonstrated preclinical efficacy against HLA-G+ acute myeloid leukemia (AML), multiple myeloma, and solid tumor models, with ongoing research focused on identifying optimal allogeneic donors to ensure high growth potential and resistance to exhaustion.

Other names

Chimeric ILT Receptor Natural Killer cells