BioCentury
ARTICLE | Emerging Company Profile

Solid CARs

How Chimeric's CAR T could work in solid tumors

September 19, 2016 7:00 AM UTC

Long-standing doubts about whether CAR T cells would be effective against solid tumors were exacerbated last year after Novartis AG and the University of Pennsylvania reported that their CART-meso showed no complete or partial responses in solid tumors. Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd. is aiming to put those doubts to rest with a CAR T against a novel target that blocks two tactics tumors use to grow and survive.

Chimeric spun out from Cancer Research UK, the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and the University of Birmingham in January to develop preclinical CAR T cell therapies that target C-type lectin domain family 14 member A (CLEC14A). CLEC14A is a transmembrane protein found on tumor endothelial cells. ...