Nobel Prize-winning technology is helping stem cell-induced CAR-T therapy

today, there is a powerful news in the industry: Takeda and Kyoto University announced that an innovative CAR-T therapy has moved from academia to industry for clinical development. Notably, this CAR-T therapy, developed using the Nobel Prize-winning "induced erythnic stem cell technology", promises to revolution the field of cell therapy.

CAR-T therapy is a new type of cellular immunotherapy that has emerged in recent years. Its principle is to isolate immune T cells from the patient's body, genetically modified and multiplyed in vitro, and then infused back into the patient's body, killing cancer cells. However, since this production method requires "individual customization", both time and money costs remain high. To reduce the waiting time for patients and reduce their treatment burden, many companies in the industry are developing "universal" CAR-T therapies that can save cumbersome production processes and be on-demand.
Among many strategies, scientists from Kyoto University have come up with a way to "induce erythnic stem cells" (iPSCs). Kyoto University is one of the centers of the global ipsC, taught by Professor Shinya Yamanaka, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012. In 2015, Takeda and Kyoto University reached an agreement to provide 20 billion yen (about 1.27 billion yuan) in research funding to start cooperation projects. The project is led by Professor Yamanoyama and involves a number of experts in the field of stem cells. Under the agreement, scientists will explore potential applications of stem cells in areas such as immuno-oncology, heart disease, and diabetes at the Takeda Xiangnan Health Innovation Park.
This CAR-T therapy(iCART) based on ipsC technology is the result of this collaboration. The treatment was developed by a team of professors such as Shin Kaneko. It uses a library of induced erypotent stem cells to create "universal" CAR-T therapies that can be fine-tuned to the needs of different patients. Today's press release notes that it is expected to produce a large number of isogen cells for treatment through a major cell bank. Compared to the first-generation CAR-T, it is expected to reduce costs. In preclinical in vivo trials, this "stem cell CAR-T therapy" targeting CD19 showed strong anti-tumor activity.
"The iCART project demonstrates the value of collaboration. We can apply ipsC technology to new ways of discovering new drugs, and we can build bridges to transfer promising projects to Takeda to accelerate clinical development and application. Professor Yamanomi said.
“ Today, we celebrate with Professor Yamanaka, Professor Kimko, and colleagues at Kyoto University's Ips Cell Research Institute that the first cooperative cell therapy project has been transferred to Takeda for clinical development," said Dr. Andy Plump, President of Research and Development at Takeda. Takeda currently has 12 CAR-T therapy development projects, including iCART, and five therapies will begin their first human trials in 2021. "
hope that the new CAR-T therapy will change the treatment of patients so that their disease can be controlled more quickly. (Bio Valley Bioon .com)