CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptors) T Cells

CARs are receptor proteins that have been engineered to give T cells the new ability to target a specific antigen. The receptors are chimeric because they combine both antigen-binding and T cell activating functions into a single receptor. CAR T therapies are mainly used to fight cancers. The processes of CAR T-Cell therapy involves collection of patient’s immune cells from the bloodstream via apheresis. The T cells are then genetically engineering by introducing DNA into to produce CARs to recognize and attack a specific cancer-associated protein. After expansion, the CAR T cells are infused back to patient’s body. Patients may need to receive lymphodepletion chemotherapy prior to receive CAR T cells. CAR T cells may eradicate the cancer cells and may remain in the body months after the infusion for the long-term remission. The currently FDA approved CAR T cells therapies are either targeting CD19 for B cell malignancy or targeting B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) for multiple myeloma.

BAFFR CAR-T Cells

Despite high initial efficacy of CD19-CAR T cell treatment for B cell lymphoma and leukemia, some patients relapse through different modes of disease recurrence. Among those relapses post CD19-CAR T cell therapy, 20–30% involves CD19 antigen loss, pointing to the urgent need to identify alternative tumor targets. Since BAFF-R signaling promotes normal B-cell proliferation and appears to be required for B-cell survival, it is unlikely tumor cells could escape immune responses via loss of BAFF-R antigen. This unique characteristic makes BAFF-R CAR T therapy a great potential treatment of B cell malignancies. This hypothesis is supported by the data of our preclinical studies published in Science Translational Medicine

BAFFR T Cells Clinical Trials

PeproMene’s lead candidate, BAFFR CAR-T Cells (PMB-CT01) is currently being investigated to treat relapsed and refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL; NCT04690595) and B-cell Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (B-NHL; NCT05370430) in phase 1 clinical trials.

Play Video