Novel CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells manufactured next-day for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Chimeric antigen receptor-engineered T (CAR-T) cells have shown promising efficacy in patients with relapsed/refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (R/R B-ALL). However, challenges remain including long manufacturing processes that need to be overcome. We presented the CD19-targeting CAR-T cell product GC007F manufactured next-day (FasTCAR-T cells) and administered to patients with R/R B-ALL. A total of 21 patients over 14 years of age with CD19+ R/R B-ALL were screened, enrolled and infused with a single infusion of GC007F CAR-T at three different dose levels. The primary objective of the study was to assess safety, secondary objectives included pharmacokinetics of GC007F cells in patients with R/R B-ALL and preliminary efficacy. We were able to demonstrate in preclinical studies that GC007F cells exhibited better proliferation and tumor killing than conventional CAR-T (C-CAR-T) cells. In this investigator-initiated study all 18 efficacy-evaluable patients achieved a complete remission (CR) (18/18, 100.00%) by day 28, with 17 of the patients (94.4%) achieving CR with minimal residual disease (MRD) negative. Fifteen (83.3%) remained disease free at the 3-month assessment, 14 patients (77.8%) maintaining MRD negative at month 3. Among all 21 enrolled patients, the median peak of CAR-T cell was on day 10, with a median peak copy number of 104899.5/µg DNA and a median persistence period of 56 days (range: 7-327 days). The incidence of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) was 95.2% (n = 20), with severe CRS occurring in 52.4% (n = 11) of the patients. Six patients (28.6%) developed neurotoxicity of any grade. GC007F demonstrated superior expansion capacity and a less exhausted phenotype as compared to (C-CAR-T) cells. Moreover, this first-in-human clinical study showed that the novel, next-day manufacturing FasTCAR-T cells was feasible with a manageable toxicity profile in patients with R/R B-ALL.

Eradication of T-ALL Cells by CD7-targeted Universal CAR-T Cells and Initial Test of Ruxolitinib-based CRS Management.

PURPOSE: Although chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy development for B-cell malignancies has made significant progress in the last decade, broadening the success to treating T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) has been limited. We conducted two clinical trials to verify the safety and efficacy of GC027, an "off-the-shelf" allogeneic CAR-T product targeting T-cell antigen, CD7. Here, we report 2 patients as case reports with relapsed/refractory T-ALL who were treated with GC027. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Both the trials reported here were open-label and single-arm. A single infusion of GC027 was given to each patient after preconditioning therapy. RESULT: Robust expansion of CAR-T cells along with rapid eradication of CD7+ T lymphoblasts were observed in the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and cerebrospinal fluid. Both patients achieved complete remission with no detectable minimal residual disease. At data cutoff, 30 September 2020, 1 of the 2 patients remains in ongoing remission for over 1 year after CAR T-cell infusion. Grade 3 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurred in both patients and was managed by a novel approach with a ruxolitinib-based CRS management. Ruxolitinib showed promising activity in a preclinical study conducted at our center. No graft-versus-host disease was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The two case reports demonstrate that a standalone therapy with this novel CD7-targeted "off-the-shelf" allogeneic CAR-T therapy may provide deep and durable responses in select patients with relapsed/refractory T-ALL. GC027 might have a potential to be a promising new approach for treating refractory/relapsed T-ALL. Further studies are warranted.