Controlling CAR T toxicity with BMS's Sprycel

Bristol-Myers Squibb’s leukemia drug Sprycel could stop CAR T associated cytokine release syndrome at the root without the need for engineered control features like off-switches.

One of the main limitations of CAR T cell therapy is associated toxicities such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Engineering strategies to manage or prevent CRS include external switches controlling CAR activity, safety switches engineered into CAR Ts and CARs engineered for drug-mediated CAR T clearance. Companies pursuing these approaches include Poseida Therapeutics Inc. (San Diego, Calif.), AvidBiotics Corp. (South San Francisco, Calif.) and Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS; Euronext:ALCLS) (see "Calibrating CARs" & "Cellectis Unveils Safety CAR Construct")...