NEW YORK – The Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (IFLI) is investing $11 million to advance PeproMene's BAFF-R targeting CAR T-cell therapy, PMB-CT01, as a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma.
According to an announcement Thursday, IFLI is paying $6 million upfront and $5 million in conditional tranched funding. PeproMene will use the funds to expand a Phase I study, PMB-102, evaluating PMB-CT01 in relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma to include those with follicular lymphoma.
If PeproMene successfully develops this autologous BAFF-R-directed CAR T-cell therapy, initially developed by City of Hope, it could be another treatment option for patients with B-cell cancers after standard-of-care treatment, including CD19-directed CAR T-cell therapy.
The treatment's target, BAFF-R, is expressed almost exclusively on B cells. The receptor plays a key role in promoting normal B-cell proliferation, which makes it necessary for B-cell survival. For this reason, PeproMene believes that BAFF-R CAR T-cell therapy could be a promising option for treating B-cell malignancies.
So far, all six non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients who've received PMB-CT01, most of whom received prior CD19 CAR T-cell therapy or presented with CD19-negative tumors, have experienced complete responses to PMB-CT01 and low-grade adverse events.
"PMB-CT01 could therefore offer a viable therapeutic option for patients facing this challenging scenario," Elizabeth Budde, a hematologist at City of Hope and the clinical trial's principal investigator, said in a statement. "It is also noteworthy that BAFF-R CAR T might outperform the FDA-approved CD19 CAR T-cell therapies given its consistently favorable balance of efficacy and safety."