What CAR T’s new safety concern could mean for immune reset competition
Novartis discloses three autoimmune disease patient deaths after CAR T cell therapy
A devastating safety setback for the leading autoimmune disease immune-resetting modality, CAR T cell therapy, could further bolster the case for investing in alternatives at a time when the landscape is already shifting toward B-cell-depleting modalities with lower costs and complexity.
Novartis AG (SIX:NOVN; NYSE:NVS) confirmed to BioCentury late Monday that three autoimmune disease patients treated with Phase II candidate rapcabtagene autoleucel (rap-cel) experienced fatal immune effector cell-associated hemophagocytic syndrome (IEC-HS) events. Novartis paused all studies of the CAR T cell therapy in immunology and neurology indications, including lupus, lupus nephritis, systemic sclerosis, ANCA vasculitis, idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, myasthenia gravis, rheumatoid arthritis, and non-active progressive multiple sclerosis...