A T-cell therapy from Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc has received accelerated approval from the U.S. FDA to treat advanced synovial sarcoma (SS). Tecelra (afamitresgene autoleucel), a CAR T targeting MAGE-A4, is the first engineered T-cell therapy for solid tumors and the first treatment option for the indication in more than a decade.
India’s first indigenous CAR T therapy is selling at around $50,000 per shot, nearly one-tenth of the price of top-selling CAR Ts in the U.S., and Immunoact founder and CEO Rahul Purwar told BioWorld he anticipates bringing the price down to as low as $20,000 per shot.
The industry is looking, with renewed hope, to the “promise” of messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics for a wide range of diseases beyond COVID-19, and not only in vaccine form but also for gene and cell therapies.
Cartesian Therapeutics Inc.’s phase IIb study of its lead candidate, Descartes-08, in treating generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) hit its primary endpoint while the company also notched a $130 million private placement equity financing.
Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. (MSD), known as Merck & Co. Inc. in the U.S. and Canada, terminated its potential $1.86 billion deal with San Diego-based Artiva Biotherapeutics Inc. for novel chimeric antigen receptor-natural killer cell therapies. GC Cell disclosed news of the terminated deal on the Korea Exchange near market close of June 25, saying it was notified by Artiva after the decision was reached by MSD’s internal decision makers.
A patient death and cases of pneumonitis overshadowed positive signs of efficacy for South San Francisco-based Lyell Immunopharma Inc.’s ROR1 CAR T-cell candidate, LYL-797, which is treating triple-negative breast cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer in a phase I trial.
Coming off a presentation at the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology meeting, where a single report of disease recurrence in a lupus patient overshadowed promising early data for Kyverna Therapeutics Inc.’s autoimmune candidate, KYV-101, the Emeryville, Calif.-based company rallied on news of a case report describing the first use of the CD19-targeting CAR T-cell therapy in a patient with stiff-person syndrome, a rare, progressive neurological autoimmune disorder for which there is limited treatment.
Acepodia Inc.’s antibody cell conjugation platform could change the way CAR T-cell therapies are manufactured, clearing the way for an off-the-shelf model to treat numerous cancers that is safer and cheaper than current CAR Ts, Acepodia CEO Sonny Hsiao told BioWorld.
Cambridge, U.K.-based Astrazeneca plc is looking to Asia, specifically China and Singapore, to build an innovative cancer-focused pipeline filled with antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and cell therapies.
As South Korea’s Curocell Inc. looks to develop the country’s first homegrown CAR T-cell therapy, CEO Gunsoo Kim highlighted rising and falling trends in the global CAR T development space at Bio Korea 2024.
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