Juno's Investigational CAR T Cell Product Candidate JCAR015 Demonstrates Encouraging Clinical Responses in Patients With B-Cell Cancers
-- Data Presented at the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting --
SEATTLE, May 30, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Juno Therapeutics, Inc. (JUNO) announced today that clinical data from its most advanced chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell product candidate, JCAR015, demonstrated encouraging clinical responses in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Clinical results will be presented in an oral presentation today at the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago.
"We are encouraged by the continued positive results of JCAR015 in patients with ALL," said Mark Frohlich, M.D., Juno EVP of development and portfolio strategy. "We look forward to continuing to advance this candidate into a potential registration trial and make it broadly available to patients."
In an oral presentation on Saturday, May 30, 2015 by Jae H. Park, M.D. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center entitled, "Efficacy and safety of CD19-targeted 19-28z CAR modified T cells in adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-ALL", updated Phase I results in 39 adult patients treated with JCAR015 will be reported in this ongoing trial:
Complete remission (CR) was reported in 33/38 (87%) of evaluable patients and minimal residual disease (MRD) negative CR was reported in 26/32 (81%) of patients who achieved a CR.
Median overall survival (OS) for all efficacy evaluable patients (N=38) was 8.5 months, and the 6 month OS rate was 59% (95% CI: 39-74).
Durable responses were observed in patients with and without subsequent allogeneic stem cell transplant.
Severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS) was observed in 9/39 (23%) of patients. Severity of CRS correlated with disease burden and was generally reversible. Grade 3/4 neurotoxicity was observed in 11/39 (28%) of patients. Grade 5 toxicity was observed in 3/39 (8%) of patients, and assessed to be unrelated to JCAR015 treatment in one of these patients.
About Juno's Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) and T Cell Receptor (TCR) Technologies
Juno's chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and T cell receptor technologies (TCR) genetically engineer T cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. Juno's CAR T cell technology inserts a gene for a particular CAR into the T cell, enabling it to recognize cancer cells based on the expression of a specific protein located on the cell surface. Juno's TCR technology provides the T cells with a specific T cell receptor to recognize protein fragments derived from either the surface or inside the cell. When either type of engineered T cell engages the target protein on the cancer cell, it initiates a cell-killing response against the cancer cell.
(snip) |
