Date: 2015-12-06
Type of
information: Presentation of results at a congress
phase: preclinical
Announcement: presentation of results at the 57th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting in Orlando
Company: Bluebird bio (USA - MA)
Product: anti-BCMA CAR T cells
Action
mechanism: cell therapy/immunotherapy product/gene therapy/CAR-T cell therapy
Disease:
Therapeutic
area: Cancer - Oncology
Country:
Trial
details:
Latest
news:
- • On December 6, 2015, bluebird bio announced that pre-clinical data from its anti-BCMA oncology program were presented by bluebird bio scientists at the 57th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.
- Abstract #1893: Manufacturing an Enhanced CAR T Cell Product by Inhibition of the PI3K/Akt Pathway During T Cell Expansion Results in Improved In Vivo Efficacy of Anti-BCMA CAR T Cells. bluebird bio explored the potential for culture modifications to improve the therapeutic potential of CAR T cells without adding complexity to manufacturing. The company tested this hypothesis using CAR T cells specific to B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) manufactured using standard IL-2 culture with an inhibitor of PI3K added to the media, or with IL-7 and IL-15, in place of IL-2.
- In an in vivo aggressive lymphoma model, mice treated with anti-BCMA CAR T cells cultured only with IL-2 experienced no effect on tumor growth and succumbed to the tumors within two weeks after treatment; anti-BCMA CAR T cells grown in IL-7 and IL-15 also did not affect tumor growth. In contrast, mice treated with anti-BCMA CAR T cells cultured with IL-2 and an inhibitor of PI3K experienced complete and long-term tumor regression.
- In an in vivo multiple myeloma model, mice received a single administration of anti-BCMA CAR T cells cultured under various conditions; all treatment groups demonstrated tumor regression regardless of culture conditions. In a model of tumor relapse, two weeks after tumor clearance, surviving mice were re-challenged with the same multiple myeloma tumors on the opposite flank; only animals that had been treated with anti-BCMA CAR T cells cultured with the PI3K inhibitor were able to resist subsequent tumor challenge.
- These data suggest that inhibition of PI3K during ex vivo expansion may generate a superior anti-BCMA CAR T cell product for clinical use; this approach could potentially apply to the manufacture of CAR T cell therapies against other oncology targets.
Is
general: Yes
