ASH 2023 – lupus target could work in lymphoma too

While a trial of an anti-CD19 Car-T construct in lupus gained much of the limelight at ASH on Saturday, the reverse approach passed somewhat under the radar. But it was nevertheless notable that a Car-T therapy targeting BAFF-R managed to put the first three lymphoma patients dosed into complete remission, in which they remain at between six and 13 months. The project in question, PMB-CT01, was originated at City of Hope, and has been licensed for development to the private US biotech PeproMene. It’s curious because BAFF-R is more commonly associated with lupus, being the receptor for BAFF/Blys, the target of GSK’s approved lupus drug Benlysta. City of Hope’s Dr Elizabeth Budde said BAFF-R was expressed on various B-cell subtypes, being related to more familiar targets like BCMA and TACI, and antigen loss – a common relapse mechanism in Car-T – was “unlikely”. With the first three patients given 50 million PMB-CT01 cells, two with mantle cell lymphoma after a CD19 Car, and a third with CD19/CD20-negative B-cell lymphoma, in complete remission, the first-in-human trial is proceeding to dose level 2 comprising 200 million cells, Budde told ASH.

Haem-onc projects hitting BAFF or BAFF-R

Source: OncologyPipeline.