On April 9, 2021 CARISMA Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies, reported study findings accepted for virtual presentation at The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting on Saturday, April 10 – Thursday, April 15 (Press release, Carisma Therapeutics, APR 9, 2021, View Source [SID1234577807]). The accepted data reinforces the potential of CARISMA’s proprietary chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) platform, as well as the importance of evaluating CAR-monocytes (CAR-Mono) as a novel and expedited immunotherapeutic pathway.
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CARISMA will share key findings from recent studies including, "Chimeric antigen receptor macrophages (CAR-M) induce anti-tumor immunity and synergize with T cell checkpoint inhibitors in pre-clinical solid tumor models," presented by Dr. Stefano Pierini, Senior Scientist at CARISMA, which established a fully immunocompetent solid tumor mouse model and evaluated the interaction of CAR-M with the tumor microenvironment and the endogenous adaptive immune system. This study marks the first time CAR-Ms have been assessed in a fully immunocompetent animal model. The findings demonstrate that CAR-M therapy showed significant tumor control, increased overall survival, remodeled the tumor microenvironment, and protected mice from antigen negative tumor recurrence. Additionally, the studies demonstrate that CAR-M synergize with T cell checkpoint inhibitors against PD1 resistant solid tumors. The data build on findings from CARISMA’s foundational CAR-M platform that were published in Nature Biotechnology in March 2020.
Also accepted for AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) presentation is the clinical trial design and foundational details regarding CARISMA’s lead candidate, CT-0508, a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeted CAR-M, "A phase 1, first in human (FIH) study of adenovirally transduced autologous macrophages engineered to contain an anti-HER2 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) in subjects with HER2 overexpressing solid tumors," presented by Joshua Bauml, MD, an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the division of Hematology-Oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). This first-of-its kind Phase 1 clinical trial is actively enrolling patients at two sites, Penn and the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill. Dr. Bauml is the principal investigator for the trial at Penn.
In "Anti-HER2 CAR monocytes demonstrate targeted anti-tumor activity and enable a single day cell manufacturing process," presented by CARISMA Scientist Dr. Linara Gabitova, new data shows the successful development of CAR-Mono with direct anti-tumor activity and capacity to differentiate into M1-polarized CAR-M. In addition, CARISMA established an ultra-rapid, same-day CAR-Mono manufacturing process for this study, which has the potential to significantly reduce the future cost of goods and manufacturing turn-around-time associated with the autologous cell therapy.
"The data presented at the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting build upon the broad engineered monocyte and macrophage platform established by CARISMA Therapeutics," shared Michael Klichinsky, PharmD, PhD, Scientific Co-founder, and Senior Vice President of Research at CARISMA Therapeutics. "These critical pre-clinical data demonstrate that CAR-M not only directly shrink tumors but instill long-term anti-tumor immunity via antigen presentation to T cells, protecting from relapse in the future."
The following presentation and posters will be published on the AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting website and available for registered attendees during the dates/times indicated below:
Saturday, April 10 at 8:30 am ET:
A phase 1, first in human (FIH) study of adenovirally transduced autologous macrophages engineered to contain an anti-HER2 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) in subjects with HER2 overexpressing solid tumors
Anti-HER2 CAR monocytes demonstrate targeted anti-tumor activity and enable a single day cell manufacturing process
Monday, April 12 at 3:05 pm ET:
Chimeric antigen receptor macrophages (CAR-M) induce anti-tumor immunity and synergize with T cell checkpoint inhibitors in pre-clinical solid tumor models