ImmunityBio: 1st patient dosed in CAR-NK cell therapy study relapsed NHL

Immunotherapy innovator ImmunityBio (IBRX) announced that the first patients have been dosed in an initial trial studying the potential of the company’s CAR-NK cell therapy targeting CD-19 in the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma NHL . In the QUILT 106 trial, CD19-targeted high-affinity natural killer or t-haNK cells are being tested initially as a single agent, and after demonstrating safety, then in combination with standard NHL treatment rituximab, in participants with selected CD19+ and CD20+ relapsed/refractory B-cell NHL. The phase 1, open label clinical study is designed to enroll up to 10 participants and is being conducted in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Bloemfontein, South Africa. This is the first cellular-targeted natural killer NK cell therapy study ever to be conducted in South Africa, and is designed to provide important clinical information on a cancer with a significant rate of diagnosis in the region, but with few treatment options. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the 6th most common malignancy among people in Sub-Saharan Africa and it is the 4th most diagnosed cancer in men and the 5th most diagnosed cancer in women in South Africa, according to the Cancer Association of South Africa. “This trial is important for ImmunityBio as our first clinical study of our CAR-NK, CD19 t-haNK cell line, as well as one of our first studies in liquid tumors,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., Executive Chairman, Founder and Global Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at ImmunityBio. “We have chosen to undertake this trial because Sub-Saharan African and, in particular, South African populations are often overlooked when it comes to advanced clinical research, despite the need for innovative immunotherapies in the region.”