(Reuters) – Caribou Biosciences Inc said on Thursday its experimental CAR T-cell therapy helped clear all signs or decrease tumor size in 94% of patients being treated for a type of cancer in the lymph nodes in a small, early-stage trial.
The responses seen in patients treated with Caribou’s CAR T-cell therapy, which uses stem cells from a donor, rival those seen in patients treated with approved CAR T-cell therapy where patients’ own stem cells are harvested, the company said.
The study also showed the therapy helped achieve complete response, meaning no detectable sign of cancer, in 69% of patients, and a complete response for 6 months and more in 44% of 16 patients.
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that develops in the lymph nodes, which is part of the body’s immune system typically affects patients over the age of 60, but can also be seen in all ages.
The therapy was well tolerated with adverse events consistent with existing approved CAR T-cell therapies in the study, the drug developer said.
Pfizer Inc earlier this month paid $25 million for a minority stake in Caribou, gaining the right to negotiate first for a license or purchase of another CAR T-cell therapy, CB-011, which is in early-stage testing for patients with a type of blood cancer.
CAR T-cell therapies involve genetically engineering infection-fighting cells, from healthy donors in this case, and infusing them into patients.
The California-based company said it is currently enrolling second-line patients with large B cell lymphoma for the second portion of the early-stage study, and the data is expected in the first half of 2024.
(Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
