VaxCell Biotherapeutics said it would end its dendritic cell clinical trial of Vax-DC/MM and step up efforts to develop CAR-MIL as an alternative treatment for multiple myeloma.
Existing treatments for multiple myeloma have shown limitations. For instance, there are a wide variety of antigens that cause multiple myeloma. In addition, even the most advanced CAR-T cell therapy leads to cancer recurrence over time after treatment because it targets only 1-2 antigens, according to VaxCell Biotherapeutics.
In contrast, marrow infiltrating lymphocytes (MIL) made by culturing bone marrow infiltrating T lymphocytes can recognize numerous tumor antigens of multiple myeloma with fewer side effects and higher therapeutic effects, thus reducing the possibility of recurrence.
Therefore, the company expects CAR-MIL conjugation to be a more powerful therapeutic agent than conventional CAR-T cell therapeutics.
The blood cancer treatment market is rapidly developing globally, with two CAR-T cell treatments recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for multiple myeloma. Domestically, various combination treatments, including primary treatments for multiple myeloma and secondary, tertiary, fourth, and fifth treatments for patients who do not comply with initial treatment, have been approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
VaxCell Bio said that all this shows the development and clinical research for the treatment of blood cancer, including multiple myeloma, are actively underway.
The company also has conducted research with experts to develop more advanced and marketable treatments. Among them, a recent study on MIL therapies conducted by the Cancer Immunotherapy Research Center of Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital stood out, it said. VaxCell Bio signed a business agreement with the university to develop a CAR-MIL pipeline to treat multiple myeloma.
It will make the online presentation of the research results of this innovative treatment at the International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting in California from Thursday to Friday, followed by the International Conference of BMT 2022 held in Korea from Sept. 1-3.
Expectations for the CAR-MIL pipeline are increasing as preliminary studies have demonstrated encouraging results,” a company official said.