Allogene’s CAR-T could delay or prevent cancer recurrence

Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, reporting on the crossroads of drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He is also a co-host of the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and author of the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54.

Allogene Therapeutics said Monday that its off-the-shelf CAR-T treatment eliminated residual cancer cells in patients with B-cell lymphoma three times better than standard care — achieving the interim goal of an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial.

While still preliminary, the new data bolster Allogene’s efforts to develop an easily administered cell therapy that, for the first time, could delay or prevent the recurrence of cancer in patients with a high risk of lymphoma relapse at the end of first-line treatment.

STAT Plus: Some blood cancer patients see remission with Allogene’s off-the-shelf CAR-T cells, early data show

In the interim analysis, 58% of patients treated with the Allogene CAR-T, called cema-cel, achieved minimal residual disease, or MRD, negativity compared to 16% of patients who were observed but not treated.

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