New CAR T therapy for B cell tumours

Autolus Ltd has gained global rights from UCL Business plc, the technology transfer company of University College London, to develop and commercialise CAT19 - a novel CD19 directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.

CD19 CAR T-cell therapy has been shown to be effective in treating B-ALL but with immune-mediated toxicity, some of which can be severe. The CAT19 CAR (now designated as AUTO1), is designed to reduce toxicity and to increase the ability of CAR T-cells to expand within patients. CAT19 was developed in Martin Pule's lab at UCL, who is supported by the BRC. CAT19 is currently being tested in paediatric and adult studies of relapsed B-ALL at GOSH and UCLH. Autolus Ltd is a clinical-stage CAR T-cell company which was formed as a spin-off from UCL.

Dr Martin Pule who is also the Chief Scientific Officer and founder of Autolus said: “Current CARs in the clinic are designed with high affinity binders that can engage the CD19 target for an extended period of time. This can lead to excessive T cell activation and cytokine release, as well as exhaustion of the T cell.  We developed a CD19 CAR that is designed to bind to its target with a fast on-rate but then releases quickly, which is more similar to naturally occurring T cell activity.  The initial clinical data supports the premise that this kinetic profile reduces toxicity and increases CAR T cell engraftment.”