First clinical trial of S. Korea¡¯s homegrown CAR-T cell therapy is underway

[Source: KAIST]

South Korea has commenced the first clinical trial of its homegrown next-generation chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy that overcomes immune checkpoint signals.

According to the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) on Wednesday, a Phase 1b clinical trial of its CAR-T cell therapy is underway in 10 Korean patients with relapsed and refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul. The clinical development program of the revolutionary immunotherapy is led by Curocell co-founded by Prof. Kim Chan-hyuk with marketing rights for the pipeline transferred from the university.

A Phase 2 clinical trial is also planned for next year to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the investigational medicine in 70 patients.

CAR T, short for chimeric antigen receptor T, is often called a miracle cure for its strong therapeutic effect of more than 80 percent proven in overseas studies of terminal blood cancer patients. A sample of a patient¡¯s T cells are collected from the blood, genetically modified to make them stronger, and then put back in the patient's body, where they attack and kill cancer cells.

The research team led by Prof. Kim of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the KAIST confirmed improved anticancer efficacy of CAR-T cells in mice with leukemia and lymphoma when simultaneously inhibiting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) and T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT) known to disturb T cell function. This dual blockade of PD-1 and TIGIT is a new strategy to overcome the immunosuppression of existing CAR-T cells, according to Prof. Lee Young-ho, a post-doctoral KAIST researcher and the first author of the animal model study.

The study results were published online in the October edition of Molecular Therapy.

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