HER2-Directed CAR T-Cell Therapy Appears Active in Phase I Trial for Advanced Sarcoma

Source Targeted Oncology Patients with sarcomas, including osteosarcoma in particular, have limited treatment options available, and the landscape has not advanced in over 40 years, according to Shoba A. Navai, MD. However, trials are now evaluating the potential role of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells as treatment of patients with sarcoma. In a phase

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UNC Lineberger discovery would allow researchers to fine-tune activity of CAR-T cancer-hunting immune cells

A discovery by University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers could allow scientists to fine-tune genetically engineered immune cells to heighten their killing power against tumors or to decrease their activity level in the case of severe side effects. In a study published in Cancer Cell, researchers led by UNC Lineberger’s Gianpietro Dotti, MD, reported

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Penn Researchers Identify Cancer Cell Defect Driving Resistance to CAR T Cell Therapy

Study identifying mechanism that prevents cell death may guide future immunotherapy strategies Some cancer cells refuse to die, even in the face of powerful cellular immunotherapies like CAR T cell therapy, and new research from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania is shedding light on why. In a new study, researchers describe how a

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European Medicines Agency Validates Kite’s Marketing Application for Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cell Therapy for Mantle Cell Lymphoma

Investigational KTE-X19 To Be First Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cell Therapy for Mantle Cell Lymphoma in Europe if Approved Kite, a Gilead Company, today announced that the company’s Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for KTE-X19, an investigational chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL),

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Exploding cancer cells can cause serious side effects in CAR-T cell therapies

Blocking a protein makes cells shrink instead, causing fewer problems Techniques to genetically modify patient immune cells have revolutionized the fight against hard-to-treat cancers. But they can come with dangerous side effects. Now, researchers have found one reason why. A particularly messy form of cell death sparks severe inflammation in patients receiving CAR-T cell immunotherapy for blood

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Stanford researchers program cancer-fighting cells to resist exhaustion, attack solid tumors in mice

CAR-T cells are remarkably effective against blood cancers, but their effect can be transient as the cells become exhausted. Stanford researchers found a way to keep the cells effective in mice with human tumors. A new approach to programming cancer-fighting immune cells called CAR-T cells can prolong their activity and increase their effectiveness against human

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Novartis’ new cell therapy facility could ease manufacturing squeeze for CAR-T med Kymriah

Novartis’ big push into cell and gene therapy hasn’t been the smoothest of rides, with a data manipulation scandal hamstringing Zolgensma and manufacturing concerns hurting CAR-T cancer therapy Kymriah. Could a new European facility help turn around the latter’s production bottleneck?  Novartis last week opened its newest cell and gene therapy facility in Stein, Switzerland, giving the

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University of Miami Initiates CAR-T Clinical Trial in Myasthenia Gravis

Neuromuscular experts with the University of Miami Health System and the Miller School of Medicine will launch a Phase 1/2 clinical trial (NCT04146051) using the CAR-T drug, Descartes-08, to treat patients with generalized myasthenia gravis. Generalized myasthenia gravis (GMG) is a rare disease and a chronic autoimmune condition in which auto-antibodies attack specific proteins at the

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AffyImmune Therapeutics Announces IND Approval for a First-in-Man Trial of Affinity-Tuned CAR-T cells for Patients with Advanced, Refractory Thyroid Cancer

AffyImmune Therapeutics, an emerging leader in CAR-T therapies, today announced FDA approval of the company’s investigational new drug (IND) application for AIC100, an affinity-tuned CAR-T cell that received Orphan designation for advanced thyroid cancer. The trial: Phase I study of AIC100 in relapsed and or refractory advanced thyroid cancer and anaplastic thyroid cancer, is sponsored by Weill

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CARsgen Announces Investigational CAR-T Therapy CT053, after PRIME eligibility by EMA, Granted RMAT Designation by the U.S. FDA for R/R Multiple Myeloma

CARsgen Therapeutics Co. Ltd., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to its investigational CT053 CAR-T cell therapy. CT053 is a fully human anti-BCMA (B Cell Maturation Antigen) autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T Cell therapy for the treatment of

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