On February 9, 2026 Estrella Immunopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLA, ESLAW) ("Estrella" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing CD19 and CD22-targeted ARTEMIS T-cell therapies to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, reported positive STARLIGHT-1 Phase I results at the 2026 ASTCT & CIBMTR Tandem Meetings (American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy and Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research).
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
The oral presentation highlighted clinical data from the Company’s ongoing STARLIGHT-1 study evaluating EB103, a CD19-redirected ARTEMIS T-cell therapy, in patients with aggressive B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). In the dose escalation portion of the STARLIGHT-1 trial, EB103 demonstrated a 100% Complete Response (CR) rate in the high-dose cohort at Month 1. Notably, all patients who achieved a CR have remained in CR through the data cutoff. The median Duration of Complete Response (DOCR) has not yet been reached, with response durations currently ranging from 3 to 18 months. Clinical highlights also include a complete responder with Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL), a highly aggressive NHL subtype with an extremely poor prognosis of about 30% 5-year survival rate.
Most patients enrolled in this study are considered high-risk and were ineligible for existing commercial CD19 products. To date, the STARLIGHT-1 study (n=9) has reported no treatment-related serious adverse events (SAEs), reinforcing EB103’s potential as a safer, more accessible "best-in-class" therapy for broader patient populations.
"Being selected for an oral presentation at this year’s Tandem Meetings is a testament to the clinical potential of EB103," said Naseem Esteghamat, MD MS, Principal Investigator of the STARLIGHT-1 study at University of California, Davis. "What we’re seeing with EB103 is truly remarkable and very exciting for our patients. This is a heavily pre-treated population with many high-risk features, yet they had impressive response to EB103 with very manageable toxicity. The clinical findings give us tremendous confidence as we continue to advance this potentially transformative therapy."
"These data represent an important milestone for Estrella and underscore the potential of EB103 to address the significant unmet medical need in B-cell NHL," said Cheng Liu, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Estrella. "The unique design of ARTEMIS T cells aims to address the safety barriers and durability limitations of conventional CD19 CAR-T therapies, potentially opening the door for broader patient populations and long-lasting disease control."
A copy of the abstract presented at the 2026 Tandem Meetings is available at View Source
(Press release, Estrella Biopharma, FEB 9, 2026, View Source [SID1234662553])