GeneTherapyLive’s Weekly Rewind – December 3, 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. CRISPR/Cas9-Edited CAR and NK Cell Therapies Show Preclinical Efficacy

CRISPR Therapeutics presented positive preclinical data for their cell therapy programs in a variety of cancers at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), November 10-14, 2021.

2. Advantages of T-Cell Immunotherapy Over CAR T-Cells

AJ Joshi, MD, chief medical officer, Atara Biotherapeutics, discussed tabelecleucel and its advantages over other T-cell therapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies.

3. IND Accepted for HER2+ Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer Cell Therapy

The FDA has accepted the investigational new drug (IND) application of Celularity’s natural killer (NK) cell therapy CYNK-101 for the potential first-line treatment of advanced HER2+ gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancer.

4. Advantages of Concurrently Investigating Gene Therapies in Dogs and Humans

Dan Oliver, cofounder and chief executive officer, Rejuvenate Bio, discussed the advantages in manufacturing and data collection of developing gene therapies for both dogs and humans. He also touched on the company’s future plans and research to further their ultimate goal of reversing aging.

5. IND Accepted for Sickle Cell Disease Cell Therapy

Beam Therapeutics has received investigational new drug (IND) clearance for their cell therapy candidate BEAM-101 for the potential treatment of sickle cell disease (SCD). The company will assess the safety and efficacy of the therapy in the phase 1/2 BEACON-101 study.