CAR-T has been hailed as a cure for cancer, butwhat really is this miraculous technology and what can we actually expect when it reaches the market?
The field of immuno-oncology is booming with billions of euros in investment. The ability to rewire our own immune system to fight cancer has certainly created huge expectations. After the success of the first checkpoint inhibitorson the market, many are turning their attention to CAR-T therapy,the next big cancer therapy to hit the market.
But is CAR-T therapy really a cure for cancer, as many seem to believe? Can the technology meet such high expectations? Are the recent deaths in clinical trials a sign that CAR-T is not ready for commercialization? What will the future bring?
To answer some of the most burning questions, Italked with some of the leaders in this field to draw an overview of the current state of the field.
CAR therapy is at the same time cell therapy, gene therapy, and immunotherapy.It represents a radical departure from all forms of medicine in existence until now, Michel Sadelain, co-founder of Juno Therapeutics, told The Scientist.
A CAR-T therapy consists in the infusion of engineered T-cells that express a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) on their cell membrane. This receptor counts with an externaltarget-binding domain designed to recognize a specific tumor antigen and an internalactivation domain responsible for activating the T-cell when the CAR-T binds its target. Second and third generation CAR-Ts have additional costimulatory domains that further enhance the immune response.
The most common procedure for CAR-T therapy consists in the extraction of T-cells from the own patient, which are then genetically modified and expanded in vitro. Finally, they are reinfused into the patient ready to fight the tumor.
Checkpoint inhibitors have already been incredibly successful. The drugs inhibitthe mechanism that tumor cells use to inhibit T-cell activity and overcome the immune system. CAR-T goes one step further and engineers the T-cell itself to enhance the immune response against a specific tumor antigen.
CAR-T clinical trials have shown huge remission rates, of up to 94% in severe forms of cancer, which is particularly impressive considering most of the trials recruit patients that have not responded to all other available treatments for their form of cancer.These preliminary results have fed the expectations of patients and investors alike, but its important to remember that the therapy also has flaws.
Im just trying to be realistic, CAR-T is not the miracle cure for cancer, Andr Choulika, CEO of Cellectis,told us.CAR-T therapy has in fact been linked tosevere side-effects, such as neurotoxicity and cytokine release syndrome.The recent report of several deaths in CAR-T trials made many realize that the technology might not be as perfect as many had originally expected.
These results mostly come from the most studied application of CAR-T, which targets the CD19 antigen found in B-cells.The companies leading the development of CAR-T all target the CD19 antigen to treat B-cell malignancies, which include several forms of lymphoma and leukemia.
The initial furor and excitement of CAR-T hasled to extensive and rapid clinical development in the CD19 target space, saysDavid Gilham, R&D VP at Celyad. Research is busy catching up at the moment, in particular concerning toxicity. The lack of good preclinical models hampers this work, but with clinical samples available, ongoing investigations are now closer to identifying the underlying mechanisms and further refining the approach.
There are several companies competingto be the first tomarket. Competition is tight and the results of a clinical trial can change everything.Juno Therapeutics, whichused to lead the race has just announced the termination of its lead CAR-T program after a total of 5 patients died of cerebral edema caused by the therapy. The company had created huge expectations, and itmarket cap reached over 2.5Bn only 3 years after its inception.
In terms of clinical development, Novartis seems to be leading now. In November, the company recently presented results from a Phase II trial with its CAR-T candidate CTL019 for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which achieved remission in 82% of patients after 3 months. The company is preparing to submit applications to the FDA and EMA this year, despite 50% of patients in the trial were reported to present severe side-effects.
Kite Pharmajustreportedresults from a Phase II clinical trial with its lead candidate, axicabtageneciloleucel, previously KTE-C19. The therapy managed to keep 36% of patients with lymphoma clear of the disease after 6months, which made Kites shares jump by 16%. However, this ongoing trial has already reported three deaths, two of them linked to the CAR-T therapy.Hoping to get ahead of Novartis, Kite Pharmastarted regulatory submissions with the FDAin December.
Despitesevere side-effects and several deaths in clinical trials, some argue that CAR-T therapy is worth the risk when a patient has not responded to any other available treatments. But others are already developing improved versions of CAR-T that are safer for the patients.
Cellectis originally developed UCART19, now licensed to Servier and Pfizer. Its a CAR-T therapy with a switch control system that only activates the engineered cells when rapamycin is present. The therapy is in Phase I and has already saved two babies with aggressive forms of leukemia. Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, in the US, is developing a similar technologycalled GoCAR-T that requiresrimiducid for CAR-T cell activation.
For its part, Celyad is developing a version of CAR-T that makes T-cells express Natural Killer Receptors (NKRs).Its disruptive because NKR-2 binds to 8 different ligands that are expressed on above 80% of solid and hematological malignancies, said Christian Homsy, CEO and co-founder of Celyad.Weve started one of the largest and broadesttrials in the sector, targeting 7 indications.
Targeting solid tumors is a big challenge in the field of immuno-oncology. Low T-cell infiltration and an immunosuppressive environment prevent the immune system from effectively attacking solid tumors. Bluebird bio and Celgene are developing their own CAR-T technology for solid tumors from the US.
Others think that the way to go for CAR-T is combination therapies. We are excited about combining checkpoint inhibitors such as PD-1 inhibitors and anti-CTLA4 drugs with CAR-T cells, said Zelig Eshhar, pioneer of the CAR-T technology at the NIH, for The Scientist.
Most approaches to CAR-T engineer the patients own cells, but this process requires several weeks and is expensive. Some estimates for the therapys price go over 500,000. A possible solution is allogeneic CAR-T therapy, i.e. sourced from a healthy donor and ready to go when the patient needs it.
Cellectis and Celyad are developing their ownallogeneic CAR-T each, and theres friction between them both. In this area, Celyad is still in preclinical phase, while Cellectis UCART123 recently received FDA approval to start clinical trials, making it the first study for allogeneic CAR-T in humans.
The technology promises a faster and cheaper approach to CAR-T, but developing an off-the-shelf therapyis a scientifically challenging avenue according to Celyads CEOChristian Homsy.
I doubt that allogeneic CAR-T can be a real off-the-shelf therapy, he commented. There are still some significant scientific challengeswith regards to immunology, as well as manufacturing, transportation, traceability and banking solutions necessary to reach the scale needed for widespread patient treatment.
As you can appreciate, theres plenty going on in the CAR-T space. The technology is not perfect yet, but it offers hope for patients that had none before. Whoever makes it first to the market will open the way for better alternatives to come in the next years.
Images from CI Photos /Shutterstock; Kite Pharma;Klebanoff et al. (2014) Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology 11, 685686;Bellicum Pharmaceuticals
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A Cure for Cancer? How CAR-T Therapy is Revolutionizing Oncology - Labiotech.eu (blog)
