Biotech Strategy Blog

Commentary on Science, Innovation & New Products with a focus on Oncology, Hematology & Cancer Immunotherapy

Posts tagged ‘CAR T cell therapy’

Next generation of T and NK cell therapies

Taking a leaf out of Wayne Gretsky’s book, we’re continuing our theme round seeking to be inspired and highlighting another batch of early developments, which may offer promise in the future.

Don’t skate to where the puck is – skate to where it will be.

Some of the best innovations come about because scientists think deeply about the challenges and issues preventing therapies from working as they should and ignore dogma in their pursuit of innovation.

These may not necessarily be the most popular approaches of the day, yet they can yield satisfying rewards down the road. In fact, I’d argue it is often the few who go an entirely different way from the crowd who end up being successful in the long run.

In today’s post we highlight some of these enlightening developments, as well as others following solutions looking more obvious at first glance, yet could stumble down the road…

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Wielding AI’s power for scientific good

Protein structure Source: Generate Biomedicine

With the incredibly rapid advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) models of late there is growing potential for an exponential impact on R&D, especially in the field of oncology.

While some observers may well be sceptical or wary, there are ways we can use these tools for greater scientific good by generating better, smarter drug designs rather than just mere productivity gains.

As more companies are exploring difficult or intractable targets, the need for enhanced computational power is increasing.

In our latest post, we combine some amazing discovery findings from the upcoming American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting with a story around the evolution of computational models and how they can help some brave companies and researchers develop new medicines with a difference rather than yet another me-too drug.

Are you ready for a tempestuous revolution rather than a slow paced evolution?

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Taking Myeloma by the Horns

The recent failure of the British Air Traffic Control System brought home to many the importance of flight plans and how easily and suddenly things can change.

Knowing the direction and waypoints a journey will take, allows travel to be co-ordinated across countries, as well as in combination with others.

The same idea applies to complex diseases such as multiple myeloma where we see treatment regimens evolve as new therapeutic modalities such as CAR-T cells or bispecific T cell engagers come to market and new clinical trial data is published.

Highland cows with horns are a fearsome lot!

With a raft of new data coming out post-pandemic, experts are starting to piece together new treatment plans and thoughts about where the field is going.

BSB will be at ASH23 in San Diego this year, so consider this post our first preview of some of the discussions and challenges we expect to hear about in multiple myeloma.

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An emerging opportunity in the CAR-T cell therapy space

Our latest conference coverage this week comes from Seattle, which is hosting the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Spotlight on Immuno-Oncology event.

Yesterday’s sessions generated quite a few thoughts about some of the new directions the field is headed in, some of which may turn out to be more surprising than others.

While there were a few snippy comments and illusions flying around, there was also some interesting data being presented.

Here we take a look at one unexpected potential growth area, which might well throw some shade on allogeneic CARs…

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A window into the future of IO

Phare de Kerkmorvan depuis 1849

It’s time to shine a light – or more correctly a beacon – on a novel approach to tackling advanced tumours.

If we want to improve beyond the low hanging fruit in immuno-oncology then we need to start tackling some of the more difficult challenges.

By the way, have you ever noticed how many observers will pick up on whatever is moving – like the sailboat in the photo – while missing the bigger picture that’s been around for a lot longer right in front of them?

Sometimes this happens in cancer research too.

Today’s story is very much along on these lines where an increasing body of research is starting to add up regarding an axis many have ignored, although admittedly it’s not as old as the lighthouse.

The thing is though, it could well turn out to be more enlightening than many realise…

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ASCO23 Preview 1 – W2W4 in Developmental Therapeutics

Springing between meetings

This time of year always brings a flurry of data across different conferences as we start winding up our AACR coverage, spring forward to the ASCO abstract title drop and prepare for the forthcoming ASGCT meeting.

Of course, much like the weather of late there are always uncertainties involved when looking at abstract titles.

We may know, for example, that certain trials have been announced as positive having met their pre-defined criteria, but as to the exact magnitude of the effect and how much benefit is actually offered in terms of outcomes is another story entirely!

It would be impossible to review all of the meeting in one go, hence we’ll be offering a series of snapshots and discussion highlighting different key topics over the next few weeks.

Here are our notes on the first one in the series…

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Diet as a drug

We have heard much over the last decade or so about the impact of the microbiome on responses to hematopoeitic stem cell transplant (HSCT) and checkpoint blockade, but what about other immunotherapies such as CAR-T cells?

This could well be one of the unexpected X factors accounting for some of the differences in outcomes seen in clinical trials in this niche.

Increasingly, scientists and physicians are starting to see how we really might be what we eat as well as how diet might impact response to therapeutic intervention.

How then should we go about learning more about this issue and – and just as importantly – figuring out the next steps to improve function ahead of such treatment in order to maximise the survival outcomes for patients undergoing stem cell or CAR-T cell therapies?

To learn more about progress, we interviewed one of the pioneers in this field to see what he had to say…

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Novel ways to enhance CAR-T cell performance

In part 2 of the highlights from day 1 of the EHA/EBMT CAR-T cell meeting, we take a look at some of the emerging science discussed during some of the sessions and how the research might help drive novel and innovative approaches forward in the future.

It can be scary jumping into the unknown!

We’ve heard much about all the phase 3 clinical trials in lymphomas and multiple myeloma of late, yet what about new research which is helping to inform and improve performance of new CAR constructs?

In this latest discussion, we highlight some of the promising scientific concepts, which are emerging and could end up being incorporated into new CAR-T cell therapies down the road in order to address and tackle some of the current weaknesses…

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What’s the next stop in CAR T cell therapy?

I can’t believe it’s two years since we last attended a medical or scientific meeting in real life, but the last time we had “boots on the ground” was in pre-Covid times, at a CAR T cell meeting held in Sitges, a small coastal town and former fishing village south of Barcelona with phenomenal light.

Organized jointly by the European Hematology Association (EHA) and European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), their annual CAR T meeting attracts “the great and the good” of cell therapy and back in 2020 we were able to interview luminaries such as Carl June, Stan Riddell, John Gribben, and Crystal Mackall in person.

This year’s CAR T meeting, now in its fourth iteration, offers a mix of clinical practice, practical advice for those running CAR T units, as well as offering keynote lectures and posters on new developments in the field. Attracting speakers from the US, EU and UK (sadly no longer part of the EU thanks to Brexit, a decision that is unlikely to make Britain great again), it has an inclusive feel about it with physicians, scientists, nurses, and patient advocates all part of the program.

Thanks to Omicron, EHA/EBMT had to pivot to a virtual meeting at the last minute, so everyone missed out on a jolly to Nice. The organizers are to be congratulated for making the meeting happen rather than postponing to the Autumn, as many have done recently thereby adding to what is already looking like a busy conference schedule for late 2022, presuming another Covid variant doesn’t come along to cause disruption…

So, what were the highlights from Day 1 of the 4th annual EHA/EBMT CAR T meeting and what did we learn about the direction of the CAR T cell field?

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Challenges and opportunities with CAR-T cell therapies

Are we putting the cart before the horse – yea or neigh?

We’ve been following and writing about the CAR-T cell therapy space for over a decade now, with plenty of trials and tribulations along the way for both products and companies alike.

With the fanfare around the latest Penn data on Friday, we’re going to take a slightly different approach from the lay media and explore some of the ins and outs around the big strategic picture.

We’ll also be looking at some new data on multiple myeloma and CAR-T cell therapies. The latter are seeing the emergence of some interesting early studies of late…

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