Super-activated natural killer (SNK) therapy, a Korean NK-cell therapy, is expected to be used in pediatric sarcoma patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center, the developer of the therapy said. 

NKGen Biotech, a U.S. subsidiary of the Korean biotech firm NKMAX, said on Monday that MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Institutional Review Board approved SNK therapy for Exceptional Access Program (EAP) to treat pediatric sarcoma. 

EAP allows medical authorities to supply a new drug for a patient before its marketing approval to give the patient a treatment opportunity when the patient has no available medicine. 

The latest IRB approval gives pediatric sarcoma patients an opportunity to receive SNK therapy in combination with Merck’s immune checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda (pembrolizumab) at MD Anderson. 

NKMAX said a 32-year-old terminal patient with metastatic sarcoma, who received SNK therapy plus Keytruda for compassionate use, achieved complete remission, and this confirmed SNK therapy’s potential as a treatment for sarcoma.

“We expect to confirm SNK therapy’s therapeutic effect not only in adult sarcoma but pediatric sarcoma,” the company said. 

Industry watchers are paying attention to whether additional data of sarcoma patients will help the company commercialize SNK therapy more quickly.