CAR T-cell therapy is a personalised immunotherapy, where a patient's own white blood cells (T cells) are removed from the body and then genetically engineered in a laboratory to express a receptor that targets a specific cancer antigen. Once infused back into the patient, CAR T cells will search out and kill the target cancer cells
KMA.CAR-T cell is HaemaLogiX’s second lead-immunotherapy. KMA.CAR-T cell, is an innovative cell therapy, designed for separate subsets of multiple myeloma patients to KappaMab, who have become resistant to standard treatments. KMA.CAR-T cell therapy harnesses the patient’s own T cells (T cells are a type of immune cell) and genetically modifies them to recognise and destroy cancerous plasma cells that express KMA.
HaemaLogiX, in collaboration with clinical researchers at the Westmead Institute of Medical Research, NSW, Australia, created the KMA.CAR-T cell by genetically engineering T cells so that the binding arm or “single chain variable region fragment”; (scFv) of KappaMab is expressed and presented on the surface of the T cell. As shown in the figure below, the binding arm of KappaMab is connected to two proteins inside the T cell that are capable of stimulating and signalling to the T cell that it should destroy the KMA-positive myeloma cell.
In the treatment of multiple myeloma patients, the T cells are harvested from the patient’s blood and then genetically engineered in the laboratory to create KMA.CAR-T cells. These cells will then be grown and expanded to create millions of KMA.CAR-T cells, which are infused back into the patient as a “living drug”. CAR-T cells hunt down, bind to and directly kill the myeloma cells that express the relevant target. They survive in the patient’s body and continue to destroy any myeloma cells as they multiply.
The Company's pre-clinical studies using KMA.CAR-T in multiple myeloma animal models showed specific and durable KMA tumour cell killing when compared to the negative control. This data has led to the Company initiating a phase 1 clinical trial in multiple myeloma patients who have failed standard-of-care treatments.
LMA.CAR-T is in research and discovery phase for lambda type myeloma.