Investigating JSP191 for More Tolerable Gene and Cell Therapy Conditioning

“Indications like leukemias, AML, and MDS require a very intense conditioning regimen because you need to get rid of every last leukemic cell and myelodysplastic cell. Because they require very intense conditioning, patients have a hard time tolerating high doses of genotoxic agents and radiation.”

Jasper Therapeutics is aiming to develop a safer and better-tolerated conditioning regimen than the often harsh regimens currently used to allow stem cell therapies to successfully graft. Their lead program, JSP191, is a targeted, first-in-class humanized monoclonal antibody designed to block stem cell factor receptor signaling leading to clearance of hematopoietic stem cells from bone marrow, creating an empty space for donor or gene-corrected transplanted stem cells to engraft.

JSP191 is being evaluated in 2 clinical trials for myelodysplastic syndromes/acute myeloid leukemia (NCT04429191) and severe combined immunodeficiency (NCT02963064) and has so far been investigated in more than 90 healthy volunteers and patients. Jasper also recently announced a collaboration with Aruvant Sciences to study the use of JSP191 with ARU-1801, an investigational lentiviral gene therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease, in June 2021.

Kevin Heller, MD, Jasper’s executive vice president of research, spoke to GeneTherapyLive about the trials and findings, and the potential of JSP191 to be used in collaboration with cell and gene therapies.

REFERENCE

Jasper Therapeutics and Aruvant announce research collaboration to study JSP191, an antibody-based conditioning agent, with ARU-1801, a novel gene therapy for the treatment of sickle cell disease. News release. Jasper Therapeutics. June 21, 2021. https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/jasper-therapeutics-and-aruvant-announce-research-collaboration-to-study-jsp191-an-antibody-based-conditioning-agent-with-aru-1801-a-novel-gene-therapy-for-the-treatment-of-sickle-cell-disease/