All articles tagged with #car t therapy
Caribou Biosciences is shutting down its clinical pipeline and laying off staff after failing to secure capital for late-stage trials. The company, which developed off-the-shelf cell therapies, is now seeking strategic alternatives like a merger or asset sale. Its stock plummeted following the announcement.
Caribou Biosciences is shutting down operations and laying off staff after failing to secure funding for a Phase 3 trial of its allogeneic CAR-T therapy, vispa-cel. The company, which spun out of Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna’s lab, had $113.8 million in cash but could not raise the capital needed to advance its pipeline. While its therapy showed efficacy comparable to approved autologous treatments, the company is seeking strategic alternatives like a sale or merger as investor interest shifts toward in vivo gene editing approaches.
Adicet Bio reported that its off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy, prula-cel, induced remission in over half of lupus patients in a Phase 1 trial. The treatment showed a favorable safety profile with no severe inflammatory events, distinguishing it from rival autologous therapies that recently faced trial pauses due to fatalities.
Kyverna Therapeutics released one-year data for its CD19 CAR-T therapy, miv-cel, showing sustained efficacy and no severe safety events in stiff person syndrome and myasthenia gravis. The results contrast with recent safety pauses at Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb, supporting Kyverna's FDA submission for a potential first-in-class autoimmune treatment.
A 3-year-old with metastatic hepatoblastoma achieved complete remission after two outpatient infusions of an experimental CAR T cell therapy targeting glypican-3 and engineered to express IL-15 and IL-21. The cancer disappeared after the second dose and remained cancer-free at 12 months, with no major cytokine release syndrome or other serious side effects. The treatment is part of the CARE trial in early phase testing, and researchers emphasize the need for further study in more patients with glypican-3+ solid tumors.
A 3-year-old boy with metastatic hepatoblastoma achieved a complete, durable remission after two infusions of an experimental GPC3-CAR T-cell therapy in the CARE study, with tumor regression on scans and a drop in AFP levels, and no systemic toxicity observed in this outpatient treatment. While highly promising, this is an early single-case result and further trials (CARE and IMPACT) are ongoing to assess safety and effectiveness in solid tumors.
A small NEJM trial reports that a single intravenous injection of a lentiviral vector instructs the body to generate CAR-T cells in vivo, which then deplete B cells and autoantibodies and correlate with improved motor and cognitive function, reduced fatigue, and lower inflammation in people with multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases over about six months. This supports the concept of in‑vivo CAR-T therapy as a cheaper, faster approach, but efficacy must be confirmed in more participants.
Novartis has temporarily paused its autologous CD19 CAR-T program for autoimmune diseases after three IEC-HS–related deaths, affecting multiple phase 1/2 studies across lupus, systemic sclerosis, ANCA-associated vasculitis, myopathies and other conditions, with patient monitoring continuing. Bristol Myers Squibb has also paused enrollment in its autologous CD19 zola-cel autoimmune trials due to transient inflammatory events, though oncology programs remain active. Analysts suggest rapid manufacturing platforms (T-Charge, NEXT-T) may drive increased T‑cell expansion and toxicities, prompting a cautious safety review before resumption.
A patient with an autoimmune disease died after receiving an experimental CAR-T gene therapy from a Chinese biotech startup, the third fatality in China’s controversial and opaque trials, according to Endpoints News.
Boulevard Bio, co-founded by renowned autoimmune researcher Georg Schett, signals a shift toward antibody therapies and away from CAR-T, marking Schett’s first co-foundership as he continues to advise several biotech startups.
Sam Neill, the Jurassic Park star, died in Australia at age 78, with his longtime representative confirming the cause of death as pneumonia after he battled lymphoma in 2022 and underwent CAR-T therapy. The family had announced he was cancer-free prior to his passing, describing the death as sudden, and a private memorial is planned at his New Zealand farm as fans await updates amid accompanying rumors.
Sam Neill, the 78-year-old star of Jurassic Park, died from pneumonia after battling a rare blood cancer treated with CAR-T therapy; he had four projects completed in the past year and a private memorial will be held at his farm in New Zealand.
Sam Neill died July 13 in Sydney at age 78, with his representative saying the cause was pneumonia after a cancer battle that had left him in remission thanks to CAR-T therapy. The family emphasized his privacy and noted there have been inaccuracies in recent reports; a private memorial will be held in New Zealand.
Entrepreneur Bryan Johnson revealed he has autoimmune gastritis, a hard-to-diagnose autoimmune attack on stomach acid–producing cells that can cause iron deficiency, anemia, and increased cancer risk. Medical experts urge more biopsies for iron-deficient patients to catch the condition, while Johnson weighs treatment options including iron supplementation and experimental approaches like CAR-T therapy, underscoring that even intense health optimization can’t fully shield someone from disease.
Multiple myeloma, a brutal blood cancer, is increasingly treatable thanks to CAR-T immunotherapy, especially Carvykti, a BCMA-targeting one-time infusion that has produced durable remissions and in some cases cures. Developed in China and licensed to a Western company, Carvykti’s success—with CARTITUDE-1 showing a 76% response rate and five-year data indicating about 33% disease-free—highlights a shift in biotech leadership from the US to China, driven by faster early-stage trials and regulatory reforms. The US still dominates late-stage development, but China’s rapid trial ecosystem is accelerating the global pipeline, potentially enabling earlier, even first-line, use of such therapies and signaling a broad realignment in drug discovery and approval.