2022 Year in Review: Top News and Insights in Cell Therapy

2022 was a big year for cell therapies, with FDA approvals coming in for indications including second-line relapsed/refractory (r/r) large B-cell lymphoma, fourth-line r/r multiple myeloma, and second-line r/r follicular lymphoma. With clinical trials for many more therapeutic areas underway, 2023 is shaping up to potentially offer even more advances in cell therapy in oncology and beyond.

CGTLive has brought you coverage of key advancements throughout the year, including the latest study data and clinical trial updates. Let's review some of our most-viewed coverage of cell therapies from 2022 below:

1. Treatment With OpRegen Shows Improvement in Visual Acuity, Cell Persistence in Dry AMD

Data from a phase 1 clinical trial examining OpRegen in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) showed that the subretinal cell therapy may help improve or maintain visual acuity in this patient population, according to a presentation made at the 2022 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting, which took place in Denver, Colorado May 1-4, 2022 and virtually May 11-12, 2022.

2. ATA188 Shows No Significant Improvements in MS, Study to Continue

ATA188, Atara Biotherapeutics’ Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV)-targeting multiple sclerosis (MS) cell therapy did not show significant improvements in the interim analysis of phase 2 EMBOLD trial (NCT03283826). It was announced that the study would continue, without sample size adjustment, based on the Independent Data and Safety Monitoring (DSM) Committee’s recommendation after reviewing efficacy, safety, and biomarker data from an interim analysis.

3. HIV Gene Therapies Continue to Move Through the Pipeline With Promise

American Gene Technologies announced that it had begun withdrawing patients with HIV from antiretroviral treatment as part of its clinical trial (RePAIR; NCT04561258) for AGT103-T, a genetically modified cell product intended to repair the immune system and control HIV replication. Another major development in the realm of HIV gene therapy included a $3.9 million NIH grant that was awarded to scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute and Temple University in Philadelphia exploring a CRISPR/Cas9 gene therapy intended to target latent HIV in microglial cells.

4. Allogeneic CAR T Yields 15-Month CR in Follicular Lymphoma

A patient treated with the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy CB-010 (Caribou Biosciences) for their relapsed or refractory aggressive B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (r/r B-NHL) maintained a complete response (CR) after 15 months.

5. Anti-HIV CAR-T Therapy Trial Doses First Patient

The first patient was dosed in a phase 1/2a clinical trial (NCT04648046) of Caring Cross’s Anti-HIV DuoCAR-T cell therapy (LVgp120duoCAR-T), an investigational CAR-T therapy intended to target HIV cells for elimination.