Training Immune Cells to Fight Specific Cancers
This patent describes a method to treat specific cancers like esophageal or lung cancer by creating specialized immune cells in the lab and giving them to patients to kill cancer cells that display a particular protein fragment.
Original patent title: “Peptides and combination of peptides for use in immunotherapy against esophageal cancer and other cancers”
This patent describes a method to treat specific cancers like esophageal or lung cancer by creating specialized immune cells in the lab and giving them to patients to kill cancer cells that display a particular protein fragment. Granted to Immatics Biotechnologies in 2019 with 21 claims and 2 forward citations, and it is expected to expire in 2039.
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
The patent claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more → a method for treating cancers that produce too much of a protein called KRT5. It involves taking a patient's own immune cells, specifically T cells, or T cells from a healthy donor (claimclaimA numbered sentence at the end of a patent that legally defines what the inventor owns. The most important section.Read more → 3), and training them in a lab (in vitro) to recognize a specific part of the KRT5 protein (SEQ ID NO: 2) when it's presented by another cell (an antigen presenting cell) on an MHC class I molecule (claim 1). These trained T cells, called cytotoxic T cells, are then activated and expanded in number (claim 5) before being given back to the patient. Once inside the patient, these activated T cells target and kill cancer cells overexpressing KRT5, such as those found in esophageal cancer (claim 16) or lung cancer (claim 17). For example, a patient with esophageal cancer could receive a dose of their own T cells, which were previously taught in a lab to find and destroy cells showing the KRT5 protein fragment.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover immunotherapy methods that target cancer cells without specifically relying on the KRT5 polypeptide (SEQ ID NO: 2).
- Does not cover treatments for cancers that do not overexpress the KRT5 polypeptide.
- Does not cover T-cell therapies where the T cells are not activated in vitro by an antigen-presenting cell presenting the specific SEQ ID NO: 2 peptide with an MHC class I molecule.
- Does not cover treatments for cancers outside the specified list, which includes esophageal, lung, urinary bladder, head and neck, and gastric cancers.
- Does not cover immune therapies that use antibodies or other binding molecules to target the KRT5 peptide directly without involving activated T cells.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
Key facts
What made this novel
The noveltynoveltyThe requirement that an invention be different from anything publicly known before its priority date.Read more → lies in identifying a specific peptide fragment (SEQ ID NO: 2) from the KRT5 protein, which is overexpressed in certain cancers, and then devising a precise in vitro method to activate a patient's own T cells to specifically recognize and kill cancer cells displaying this particular fragment.
The Patent Drawing
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Adoptive T-cell therapies
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies
T-cell receptor (TCR) based immunotherapies
Why it matters
The bigger picture
This patent is significant because it outlines a specific approach within the rapidly growing field of cancer immunotherapy, particularly adoptive T-cell therapy. By identifying a specific tumor-associated peptide (from KRT5) and a method to train T cells against it, it offers a pathway for developing highly targeted treatments for difficult-to-treat cancers. This type of personalized or semi-personalized medicine aims to harness the body's own immune system to fight cancer more effectively and with potentially fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy.
Filed
February 21, 2019
Granted
July 30, 2019
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, the assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing T-cell receptor (TCR) based immunotherapies for cancer. They are actively developing therapies that identify and target specific tumor-associated peptides presented by MHC molecules, aligning directly with the technology described in this patent. Other companies in the T-cell therapy space, such as Adaptimmune and Kite Pharma (Gilead), are also developing similar approaches.
Market impact
This patent contributes to the growing field of personalized T-cell immunotherapies, offering a specific target and method for treating certain solid tumors. While not a market-creating patent on its own, it strengthens the intellectual property landscape for companies developing highly specific T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies. It enables the development of new drug candidates that could potentially offer more effective and less toxic treatments for patients with KRT5-overexpressing cancers.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
The patent claims a method for treating cancers that produce too much of a protein called KRT5. It involves taking a patient's own immune cells, specifically T cells, or T cells from a healthy donor (claim 3), and training them in a lab (in vitro) to recognize a specific part of the KRT5 protein (SEQ ID NO: 2) when it's presented by another cell (an antigen presenting cell) on an MHC class I molecule (claim 1). These trained T cells, called cytotoxic T cells, are then activated and expanded in number (claim 5) before being given back to the patient. Once inside the patient, these activated T cells target and kill cancer cells overexpressing KRT5, such as those found in esophageal cancer (claim 16) or lung cancer (claim 17). For example, a patient with esophageal cancer could receive a dose of their own T cells, which were previously taught in a lab to find and destroy cells showing the KRT5 protein fragment.
The clever bit
The novelty lies in identifying a specific peptide fragment (SEQ ID NO: 2) from the KRT5 protein, which is overexpressed in certain cancers, and then devising a precise in vitro method to activate a patient's own T cells to specifically recognize and kill cancer cells displaying this particular fragment.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover immunotherapy methods that target cancer cells without specifically relying on the KRT5 polypeptide (SEQ ID NO: 2).
- Does not cover treatments for cancers that do not overexpress the KRT5 polypeptide.
- Does not cover T-cell therapies where the T cells are not activated in vitro by an antigen-presenting cell presenting the specific SEQ ID NO: 2 peptide with an MHC class I molecule.
- Does not cover treatments for cancers outside the specified list, which includes esophageal, lung, urinary bladder, head and neck, and gastric cancers.
- Does not cover immune therapies that use antibodies or other binding molecules to target the KRT5 peptide directly without involving activated T cells.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
Patent enters public domain
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Early stage
Citation count
10/40
Early citations
Claim breadth
14/20
Broad claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →
Recency
10/20
Granted 5–10 years ago
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$140K – $449K
Midpoint $281K · 12.5 yr remaining · industry ×3.0
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
Claim text not yet imported for this patent
The original legal language
Original claims
21 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Schoor, O., SONG, C., Singh, H., MAHR, A., Weinschenk, T., & FRITSCHE, J. (2019). Training Immune Cells to Fight Specific Cancers (U.S. Patent No. 10,364,282). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10364282/peptides-and-combination-of-peptides-for-use-in-immunotherapy-against-esophageal
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Training Immune Cells to Fight Specific Cancers cover?
This patent describes a method to treat specific cancers like esophageal or lung cancer by creating specialized immune cells in the lab and giving them to patients to kill cancer cells that display a particular protein fragment.
Who owns patent US 10364282?
Immatics Biotechnologies owns this patent, granted in 2019.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on February 21, 2039, when the invention enters the public domain.
What is patent US 10364282 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 2 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
This patent is significant because it outlines a specific approach within the rapidly growing field of cancer immunotherapy, particularly adoptive T-cell therapy. By identifying a specific tumor-associated peptide (from KRT5) and a method to train T cells against it, it offers a pathway for developing highly targeted treatments for difficult-to-treat cancers. This type of personalized or semi-personalized medicine aims to harness the body's own immune system to fight cancer more effectively and with potentially fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover immunotherapy methods that target cancer cells without specifically relying on the KRT5 polypeptide (SEQ ID NO: 2).
Same assignee
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