GeneTherapyLive’s Weekly Rewind – October 15, 2021

Welcome to GeneTherapyLive’s Weekly Rewind! We’ve compiled 5 highlights from this week’s coverage of advances in gene and cell therapies, including FDA actions, notable research, and interviews with experts across the field.

1. Natural Killer Cell Therapy Well Tolerated in Solid Tumors

Thorsten Graef, MD, PhD, chief medical officer, Acepodia, discussed data on ACE1702 presented at ESMO 2021. He touched on next steps for the therapy and compared it to other natural killer cell therapies.

2. AlloCAR T Programs Halted Following Chromosomal Abnormality

The FDA has placed all of Allogene Therapeutics’ AlloCAR T trials on clinical hold after a chromosomal abnormality was observed in a patient dosed with ALLO-501A in the ALPHA2 trial (NCT04416984). These programs span tumor types, with phase 1 studies assessing the therapies in hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, and as a lymphodepletion agent.

3. Advantages of mRNA-Based Gene Therapies

Jake Becraft, PhD, chief executive officer and cofounder, Strand Therapeutics, discussed the company’s technology and focus on mRNA therapies. He explained how Strand’s platform works to create these therapies and the ease of manufacturing and delivering such therapies.

4. CAR T-Cell Therapy From CRISPR Therapeutics Efficacious in CD19+ B-Cell Malignancies

CTX110 seems to be well-tolerated and efficacious in patients with relapsed or refractory CD19+ B-cell malignancies, according to updated data from the phase 1 CARBON trial (NCT04035434) announced by CRISPR Therapeutics.

5. TCR-T Cell Therapy Cleared for Phase 1/2 Study in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

The FDA has accepted Intellia Therapeutics’ investigational new drug application for NTLA-5001, an investigational CRISPR/Cas9 T cell receptor (TCR)-T cell therapy for the potential treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.