To equip the "warrior" T-cells in the human body with a "navigation head" CAR that can recognize and locate them, and transform them into "super warriors", so as to realize the precise elimination of cancer cells. --CAR-T therapy, as we know it, has already brought new hope to many patients with hematologic tumors.
Not only for treating hematologic tumors, can these "super soldiers" open up new "battlefields" and bring new treatment possibilities for more diseases?
In response to this question, Nanjing Jiangbei New Area enterprise reindeer biology gave its own answer.
Recently, Reindeer Biologics announced that Cell, a top international academic journal, published online the research results of its self-developed fully human-targeted BCMA CAR-T cell therapy, Igibiorense Injection, for the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis.
As a top academic journal in the field of life sciences, Cell, together with Nature and Science, is known as the "three top journals of CNS".
Reindeer Bio's CAR-T therapy in Cell
Representing the Jiangbei New District from Nanjing
Innovative forces in cell therapy
Gaining Global Attention
New breakthrough in multiple sclerosis treatment
According to the report, the results of this research, which appeared in Cell.The safety and efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy in the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis was demonstrated for the first time in the world.
Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, has been called the "neurological health killer of young and middle-aged people." Common symptoms include sensory and visual disturbances, motor and coordination disorders, and in severe cases, patients may even have difficulty walking or become paralyzed.
The current study, initiated by the investigators led by Prof. Wei Wang's team in the Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, involved five patients with progressive multiple sclerosis.
In the study, all five patients received a single infusion of Igibiorense injection - a CAR-T product independently developed by Reindeer Biologics and produced in-house in the whole process, which was approved to be marketed by the SFDA in June 2023 for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma, and so far, it has benefited hundreds of patients with multiple myeloma, and has even more attracted more than 40 overseas patients from Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia to receive treatment in China.
Significant efficacy was observed after the patients received the infusion:All patients showed improved mobility, hand function and walking speed, and the "bad elements" in the cerebrospinal fluid disappeared completely or were significantly reduced, and the disease stopped progressing.More importantly, the safety of the treatment was favorable, with 80% patients having only transient, mild reactions and no serious side effects.
"This is an important step forward for us in the field of cell therapy." Prof. Wang Wei explained that progressive MS has long been a challenge for the medical community, with conventional drugs failing to stop its progressively worsening course.And in the current study, refractory patients with 83% achieved long-term clinical remission without drug maintenance after treatment, which means: multiple sclerosis treatment, a new possibility.
Expansion into autoimmune diseases
The remarkable efficacy and favorable safety profile of such results are encouraging.It is worth mentioning that this is also the first time that Cell has published research results on the successful treatment of autoimmune diseases with targeted BCMA CAR-T cell therapy, marking an important scientific breakthrough in this field.
In recent years, the application of CAR-T cell therapy in the treatment of malignant hematological tumors has been widely accepted. Meanwhile, for autoimmune diseases, which is the second largest drug market after oncology, academia and industry are also exploring new possibilities. As a "frontrunner" in the cell therapy track, Reindeer Biologics is one of the earliest companies in the world to apply CAR-T therapy to autoimmune diseases. As early as 2022, the team submitted the first application for a clinical trial of CAR-T cell therapy to treat autoimmune diseases in Jiangbei New District.
After several years of exploration, today, Igioleanser injection has been approved for clinical trials in China and the United States for a number of self-immune indications, covering multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, and systemic lupus erythematosus, all of which are currently intractable and persistent in the field of self-immune diseases.
"The publication of this result in Cell proves the therapeutic potential of Igioleanser in the field of autoimmune diseases." Jinhua Zhang, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Reindeer Bio, said, "In the future, we will continue to accelerate our global layout and rely on our complete independent R&D and production system to promote the clinical translation of more innovative cell therapies and bring fundamental therapeutic breakthroughs to patients with autoimmune diseases."
From hematological tumors to autoimmune diseases, Reindeer Biologics' exploration and expansion is rewriting the treatment landscape of many intractable diseases and bringing new hope to more and more patients.
Anchored in innovation, this team, which has a firm grasp of drug clinical development and production capabilities, is also moving into a broader arena. The new district reindeer, running endlessly.
