CARISMA Therapeutics Announces First Patient Dosed in Landmark Clinical Study Evaluating Engineered Macrophages
New TAP Partner
PHILADELPHIA, March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CARISMA Therapeutics Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company spun out of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and focused on discovering and developing innovative immunotherapies, announced that the first patient has been dosed in the Phase 1 multi-center clinical trial for CT-0508, a human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) targeted chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M).
This clinical trial represents a pivotal milestone in gene-based therapy development, as it is the first time CAR-engineered macrophages are being used in a clinical study. The study focuses on patients with recurrent or metastatic HER2-overexpressing solid tumors whose cancers do not have any approved HER2-targeted therapies or who do not respond to treatment. Preclinical findings for CT-0508 indicated that CAR-M therapy may have the potential to overcome challenges that T-cell therapies have encountered in the solid tumor setting.
CT-0508 was originally developed by Saar Gill, MD, PhD, Scientific Co-founder of CARISMA Therapeutics, and an Assistant Professor of Hematology-Oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Penn's Abramson Cancer Center, and Michael Klichinsky, PharmD, PhD, Scientific Co-founder, and Senior Vice President of Discovery at CARISMA Therapeutics.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Therapy Acceleration Program® (TAP) is working with Carisma to support one or more CAR macrophage cell therapy programs for hematological malignancies.