ASX-listed cell therapy company Chimeric Therapeutics has begun treatment of the first brain cancer patient in the fourth dose cohort in its phase 1 clinical trial of the company’s CHM 1101 cell treatment.
This follows the successful completion last month of the third dose of the treatment, without any toxic effects.
Comprehensive cancer centre The City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organisations in the United States, initiated and is leading the trial. Melbourne-based Chimeric has the exclusive global rights to intellectual property covering the HM 1101, also known as the chlorotoxin, or “CLTX” CAR-T cells.
CAR T therapy involves taking T cells from a patient’s blood and adding a receptor called a chimeric antigen receptor, or “CAR” to help the T cells attach to the cancer cell.
Chimeric believes chlorotoxin CAR T is a first-in-class therapy with the potential to address the unmet medical need of patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma using a toxin derived from scorpions.
The phase 1 study aims to enrol 18-36 patients with recurrent or progressive glioblastoma, regarded as the most aggressive form of brain cancer, across four dose levels.
Glioblastoma, or “GBM”, often starts in the spinal cord or brain and becomes a fast-growing tumour.
CLTX is a peptide derived from scorpion toxin and it is used as the tumour-targeting component of the CAR.
Patients in the fourth dose level will receive cells through dual routes of , administration – intertumoral, directly injected into the tumour and intraventricular, into the ventricles in the brain.
Chimeric’s study objectives are to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CLTX CAR T and to establish recommended dosing for a phase 2 trial.
Chimeric Therapeutics Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jason B Litten said: “It is exciting to see the progress on this potentially transformative new treatment for patients with highly aggressive brain tumours.”
“Based on this clinical experience, Chimeric looks forward to building upon and expanding this program to deliver new medicines for cancer patients.”
CAR T has been shown in preclinical models to bind more broadly and specifically to GBM cells than other cell treatments.
Chimeric believes cellular therapies have the promise to cure cancer, not just delay disease progression which is certainly a cause worth fighting for.
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