Allogene Therapeutics Presents Preclinical Data Demonstrating the Potential of AlloCAR T™ Therapy in Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) at the 2019 AACR Annual Meeting
- Anti-CD70 AlloCAR T™ Could Be Optimized to Eliminate Both CD70 Low and High Expressing Target Cells, and Manufactured in a Large-Scale Process
- CD70, Present on Both Hematologic Malignancies and Solid Tumors, May Facilitate Translation of AlloCAR T™ to Solid Tumors
“While our initial focus is on our programs targeting CD19 and BCMA for hematologic malignancies, Allogene’s portfolio includes an additional 15 pre-clinical AlloCAR T™ cell therapy assets targeting a vast array of tumor types,” said
RCC is a highly T-cell infiltrated tumor type. However, despite demonstrated responsiveness to immuno-oncology agents, the overall rates of complete response are very low with yet unknown durability.i,ii,iii In this study, a large panel of single-chain variable fragments of an antibody that bind to CD70 were generated and formatted into CARs. Anti-CD70 AlloCAR T cells were identified, selected and studied in short- and long-term cytotoxicity assays, which confirmed their ability to kill RCC cells in vitro and in multiple in vivo models. Anti-CD70 AlloCAR T therapy candidates were ranked based on tonic signaling, transduction efficiency, phenotype, activation status and expansion. The pre-clinical study also found that anti-CD70 AlloCAR T cells could be successfully manufactured in a large-scale process.
The anti-CD70 AlloCAR T program was progressed under a joint research collaboration with
About Renal Cell Carcinoma
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for nine of 10 kidney cancers and is one of the 10 most common cancers in
About
AlloCAR T cell therapies are engineered from cells of healthy donors, which is intended to allow for creation of inventory for on-demand use in patients. This approach is designed to eliminate the need to create personalized therapy from a patient’s own cells, simplify manufacturing, and reduce the time patients must wait for CAR T cell treatment. The Allogene portfolio includes rights to 16 pre-clinical AlloCAR T cell therapy assets in addition to AlloCAR T therapy candidates ALLO-501 and UCART19. Allogene is the sponsor of the ALLO-501 program, which is expected to begin Phase 1 in the first half of 2019 for the treatment of relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The press release may, in some cases, use terms such as "predicts," "believes," "potential," "proposed," "continue," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "may," "could," "might," "will," "should" or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: the ability to further research and develop an anti-CD70 AlloCAR T™ candidate, the potential benefits of anti-CD70 AlloCAR T therapy, the ability to manufacture anti-CD70 AlloCAR T cells, the timing and ability to initiate and progress the ALLO-501 clinical trial, the ability to initiate and progress additional clinical trials of AlloCAR T therapies, and the potential benefits of AlloCAR T therapy. Various factors may cause differences between Allogene’s expectations and actual results as discussed in greater detail in Allogene’s filings with the
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i Geissler, K., Fornara, P., Lautenschläger, C., Holzhausen, H. J., Seliger, B., & Riemann, D. (2015). Immune signature of tumor infiltrating immune cells in renal cancer. Oncoimmunology, 4(1), e985082. doi:10.4161/2162402X.2014.985082
ii Motzer, R., et al. (2015) Nivolumab versus Everolimus in Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma. N Engl J Med; 373:1803-1813
iii Rini, B. I. et al. (2019) Pembrolizumab plus Axitinib versus Sunitinib for Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma. N Engl J Med; 380:1116-1127
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v Siegel et al. in CA Cancer J Clin 68(1):7, 2018
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Source: Allogene Therapeutics, Inc.