Does an alpaca has anything to do with malignant mesothelioma & CAR-T?
The clinical study jointly initiated by Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital and Mengchao Tumor Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University found that CAR-T cells based on Alpaca nano antibody had a good effect on malignant mesothelioma in the enrolled patients with advanced mesothelioma. Relevant achievements were reported by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in 2022, which attracted wide attention from peers at home and abroad.
Clinical studies have shown that autocrine PD-1 nano antibody mesothelin CAR-T cells can bring clinical benefits to patients with recurrent / refractory solid cancer(mesothelioma) by reducing the tumor burden and prolonging the survival time, especially to patients with pdl1+ tumors, so as to achieve tumor clearance and long-term tumor-free survival.
From July 20, 2020 to April 30, 2022, Shanghai cell therapy group conducted a clinical trial of autocrine PD-1 nano antibody mesothelin CAR-T cell IIT in Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital and Mengchao Tumor Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University.
The study included 10 patients with advanced recurrent / refractory mesothelioma, all of whom had received at least 2 lines of chemotherapy line failure.
As of press release, all mesothelioma patients enrolled in the project have survived for 22 months after reinfusion, and the patients with complete remission (CR) have survived for more than 15 months. The CAR-T autocrine PD-1 nano antibody has been continuously detected in the peripheral blood of Cr patients for 9 months.
Professor Qian Qijun, chairman of Shanghai cell therapy group, introduced that this new treatment not only targets cancer cell related membrane proteins, but also secretes antibodies to change the microenvironment around the tumor. This method originates from the “nano antibodies” naturally produced by alpacas and camels.
The “nano antibody” in Alpaca helps CAR-T cells to treat solid tumors. It is reported that Shanghai cell therapy group has established a 1300 Mu large-scale Alpaca breeding base in Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, successively introduced alpacas and alpacas from Australia and Chile, and set up a research and development center in San Francisco to promote nano antibody research.
At present, the base has three kinds of animals producing nano antibodies: alpaca, alpaca and Bactrian camel. Compared with traditional antibody drugs, the nano antibodies obtained by Shanghai cell therapy group through AI technology have better affinity, lower immunogenicity and stronger stability.
Prof. Qian Qijun introduced that the CAR-T of this research project is a non viral vector system CAR-T. The product adopts the technology of transposon instead of virus vector, which is quite different from the traditional virus transfection CAR-T in terms of production technology. The research and development of a new generation of non viral vectors has achieved a breakthrough in the key process of the non viral vector system, enabling more cancer patients to enjoy cell therapy technology with good curative effect and low price.