Everett Meyer, MD, PhD, on Reducing GvHD in Leukemia Treatment

“We're reporting data from 2 different clinical trials, a phase 2 single center study at Stanford... and a phase 1b multicenter safety and feasibility study that supports what we found in the single center study... it's exciting to present these results. We've completed both studies. The phase 2 study reached the endpoint of improved GvHD relapse free survival compared to expected, so that's very heartening...We're now in phase 3 trials to evaluate, on a randomized basis, if we can scientifically prove this benefit.”

Orca-T cell therapy (Orca Bio) demonstrated a clinical benefit in relapse-free survival as well as lower incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in patients with leukemia, according to updated data from a phase 2, single-center study (NCT01660607) conducted at Stanford and a phase 1b multicenter study (NCT04013685). A phase 3, randomized study (NCT05316701) of Orca-T versus standard of care ASCT is now enrolling.

Data from the 2 studies were presented at the 2023 Tandem Meetings |Transplantation & Cellular Therapy Meetings of ASTCT and CIBMTR, held in Orlando, Florida, February 15-19, by investigator Everett Meyer, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics, Stanford University.

CGTLive spoke with Meyer to learn more about the new data and Orca-T's demonstrated benefit in treating leukemias while maintaining a lower incidence of GvHD compared to historical data with allogeneic stem cell transplant (ASCT). He also touched on the importance of National GvHD Awareness Day, which occurred for the first time on February 17, 2023.

For more coverage of the 2023 Tandem Meetings, click here.

REFERENCES

1. Pavlova A, Lowsky R, Muffly L, et al. Orca-T, a high-precision cell therapy, for the treatment of hematologic malignancies in patients with 7/8 mismatch donors. Presented at: 2023 Tandem Meetings, February 15-18; Orlando, Florida. Abstract #30.
2. Oliai C, Pavlova A, Muffly L, et al. Precision-engineered cell therapy Orca-T demonstrates high relapse-free survival at 1 year while reducing graft-versus-host disease and toxicity. Presented at: 2023 Tandem Meetings, February 15-18; Orlando, Florida. Abstract #54.