Patient enrollment has begun at a fourth site for the world’s first CAR T-cell therapy clinical trial for neuroendocrine cancer. Winship Cancer Center at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta has opened the trial. Chimeric Therapeutics supports the trial.
The trial of CDM CDH17, a T-cell therapy developed at the University of Pennsylvania by Dr Xianxin Hua, targets an antigen expressed on the top of cancer cells in neuroendocrine and some other gastrointestinal cancers. NETRF funded the preclinical work beginning in 2014 to bring this innovative treatment from the bench to the clinic.
“Our entire team is excited to play a role in this phase of the development of immune therapy for our patients with neuroendocrine tumors, says Dr. Daniel Halperin, associate professor and vice chair for clinical affairs in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University School of Medicine.
Chimeric Therapeutics is reporting early signs of efficacy in the world’s first clinical trial of CAR T cell therapy for neuroendocrine cancer. The first NET patient to receive the treatment had stable disease through 150 days. Chimeric discussed the update at an investors’ call in May.
Dr. Halperin serves as the principal investigator at Emory and also serves on NETRF’s Board of Scientific Advisors. “I remember when NETRF made the first risky investments in immune characterization and CAR T-cell development in our field about a decade ago, and am grateful to have been a member of that initial cohort of investigators. To play a continued role in the development of potentially revolutionary therapies for our patients is a distinct honor, and the Winship Cancer Institute team is proud to be among the handful of centers offering this novel trial option for patients with NET.”
In addition to Winship Cancer Center, the trial is open at University of Pennsylvania, Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville, and the University of Chicago.