B-cell maturation antigen (modified form) (dBCMA)

B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), also known as TNFRSF17, is a cell surface receptor primarily expressed on mature B lymphocytes and plasma cells, where it plays a critical role in B-cell development and survival. In the context of dBCMA presented on tumor cells, it refers to a synthetic, modified form of BCMA engineered to serve as a universal target for immunotherapy in solid tumors. This modified antigen is typically delivered to tumor cells via a tumor-selective viral vector (such as DV-10 in the Flare platform), which paints the antigen onto the surface of solid tumor cells that do not naturally express BCMA. The dBCMA variant is specifically engineered to remain anchored to the cell membrane by removing the natural shedding domain, thereby preventing the release of soluble BCMA (sBCMA) which can act as a decoy for therapies. By inducing the expression of dBCMA on solid tumors, these cancers are converted into targets for clinically validated BCMA-directed therapies, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells. This approach aims to overcome the lack of specific target antigens in solid tumors while simultaneously modulating the tumor microenvironment to enhance immune infiltration and activity.

Other names

Modified B-cell maturation antigenFlare antigenNon-shedding BCMATNFRSF17CD269BCMTumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 17

Antigen tagging/painting followed by CAR-T or bispecific antibody-mediated cell lysis