Join Lonza scientists Ethan Shelkey and Aurita Menezes as they discuss practical examples and strategies for using cell-based assays to assess immune activation, offering actionable insights for advancing cancer immunotherapy development.

In the field of immune-oncology, scientists discover, test, and validate numerous different immunotherapeutic agents, including checkpoint inhibitors, vaccine-based therapies, and cell-based treatments that leverage the human body’s immune system to fight cancer. Ideal treatments target a specific organ or cell type and trigger an efficient and safe immune response.

Immunogenicity includes a broad spectrum of pharmacologic reactions, ranging from intended on-target immune activation to unwanted off-target secondary responses that drive immunotoxicity and other safety considerations through cellular immunogenicity and immunotoxicity assays. These assays employ different cell types to assess pharmacologically relevant metrics such as cytotoxic cell–tumor target interactions, cancer cell killing, immune cell activation, and off-target toxicity.

With increasingly complex and specific immuno-oncology treatment modalities, assays that measure drug immunogenicity and immunotoxicity are critical for researchers seeking deeper insights into the immune system, tumor immune escape, and therapy efficacy. In this webinar we will discuss some key cell-based assays for immunogenicity and key considerations in the design of these assays.

Main learning objectives for this webinar are:

• Understanding variety of cell-based assays used in immunogenicity testing


• Donor considerations in design of these assays


• Application trends in Immuno-oncology