Novartis, Penn publish Phase I/II CAR T data in ALL

Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN) and the University of Pennsylvania published in the New England Journal of Medicine results from a Phase I/IIa trial of CTL019 to treat relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

In the 30-patient study, 27 patients (90%) receiving the autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy achieved complete remission one month after infusion. At six months, the event-free survival rate was 67% and overall survival was 78%. The probability of persistence of CTL019 in the body at six months was 68%. ...