Cell & Gene Weekly
ASCO abstracts out: an interesting GPC3 CAR-T from AZ / Abel...
ASCO abstracts are out - I had fun looking at some of the innovation on the solid tumor front for CAR-Ts. Enjoy the read and have a good weekend all !
ASCO abstract highlights
Below a table with my selection of ASCO 2024 abstracts for CAR-Ts in solid tumors.
In my opinion, I think the winner from the list below is the GPC3 CAR-T from AZ / AbelZeta, which has yielded 50% (+4.6 uPR) in heavily pretreated liver cancer. For thos interested, see table below with more details of the results across dose levels. On the back of this data, AZ has initiated a further ph 1/2 trial [dubbed ATHENA] for AZD5851, a CAR-T product with the same GPC3-specific CAR and dnTGFβRII-armoring transgene. Kudos to AZ, who despite coming relatively late into the CAR-T game, seem to be scoring well with solid tumor CAR-Ts (!)
Sources: (1) link; (2) link; (3) link; (4) link; (5) link; (6) link; (7) link; (8) link; (9) link; Clinicaltrials.gov; AZ
Quick take news
Affimed Announces Positive Early Efficacy and Progression Free Survival Results of AFM24-102 Study in EGFR Wild-Type Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2024 - link
Spoiler = combination of AFM24 + atezolizumab had a DCR of 73.3% (11/15), including 4 ORRs (1 CR and 3 PR)
Atara Biotherapeutics Submits Tabelecleucel (Tab-cel®) Biologics License Application for Treatment of Epstein-Barr Virus Positive Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disease with U.S. FDA - [link]
Orna Therapeutics Announces Strategic Acquisition of ReNAgade Therapeutics to Solidify Leadership in Circular RNA Therapies [link]
MilliporeSigma boosts its gene therapy manufacturing capability with $600M acquisition of Mirus Bio [link]
AmplifyBio and Xcell Biosciences Announce Partnership to Manufacture Solid Tumor-Targeting TCR-T Cell Therapy [link]
Astellas Announces a Collaboration with YASKAWA to Create an Innovative Cell Therapy Ecosystem through the Integration of Pharmaceutical and Robotics Technologies [link]
Immatics provided updated clinical data on ACTengine® IMA203 targeting PRAME in 30 heavily pre-treated metastatic melanoma patients at RP2D: 55% ORR, mDOR 13.5 mo [link]
*Any views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author (Marco Sabatini) and do not necessarily reflect those of his employer