News

CAR T-cell start-up launched


 

References

Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee has partnered with Puretech Health to launch a new biotechnology and immuno-oncology company to broaden the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. Dr. Mukherjee, a Columbia University researcher, hematologist, oncologist, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer,” (New York: Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, 2011) is licensing his CAR T-cell technology to the joint venture, called Vor BioPharma.

Vor BioPharma will focus on advancing and expanding CAR T-cell therapy, a relatively new cancer treatment where T cells are first collected from a patient’s blood and then genetically engineered to produce CAR proteins on their surface. The CAR proteins are designed to bind specific antigens found on the patient’s cancer cells. These genetically engineered T cells are grown in a laboratory and then infused into the patient. As of now, CAR T-cell therapy is primarily used to treat B-cell leukemias and other chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

“We continue to make great strides in developing new ways to treat cancer using the body’s immune system,” said Dr. Mukherjee in a written statement announcing the partnership. “The positive clinical response researchers have achieved with CAR T-cell therapies in B-cell leukemias has led to great interest within the oncology community and is something we hope to achieve in other cancers over time,” he said.

“CAR T-cell therapies have shown remarkable progress in the clinic, yet their applicability beyond a small subset of cancers is currently very limited,” said Dr. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir of Stanford University and a member of the Vor Scientific Advisory Board. “This technology seeks to address bottlenecks that prevent CAR T-cell therapy from becoming more broadly useful in treating cancers outside of B-cell cancers.”

Other Vor BioPharma employees and Scientific Advisory Board members include Dr. Joseph Bolen, former President and Chief Scientific Officer of Moderna Therapeutics; Dr. Dan Littman of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and Dr. Derrick Rossi of Harvard University.

jcraig@frontlinemedcom.com

On Twitter @jess_craig94

Recommended Reading

Search is on for cases of aggressive, ruxolitinib-associated skin cancers
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
On the road to harnessing CRISPR gene editing to treat cancer
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
Company warns of counterfeit drug
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
Tools may aid transition from pediatric to adult care
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
FDA grants priority review for blinatumomab
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
CAR T-cell therapy granted orphan designation
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
Drug produces similar results in older and younger ALL patients
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
CHMP recommends approving drug to treat FL
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
Study links radon and hematologic cancers in women
MDedge Hematology and Oncology
Costs for orally administered cancer drugs on the rise
MDedge Hematology and Oncology