Nov. 11 SITC Roundup: Celyad's first clinical data for allogeneic CAR Ts, plus Vaccibody and Nektar

Celyad reports no GvHD, two PRs in allogeneic CAR T trial
Newly presented data from a Phase I trial of an allogeneic CAR T from Celyad S.A. (Euronext:CYAD; NASDAQ:CYAD) showed that among 12 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, CYAD-101 plus chemotherapy regimen FOLFOX led to two partial responses and seven cases of stable disease for an overall response rate (ORR) of 17% and a disease control rate of 75%. There were no cases of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) among the 12 evaluable patients; one patient experienced grade 1 cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Celyad expects to report additional data from the trial in 1H20. CYAD-101 is an allogeneic CAR T targeting NKG2D. Data were reported at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) meeting in National Harbor, Md.

Vaccibody's neoantigen cancer vaccine leads to 50% ORR
Vaccibody A/S reported a 50% ORR in the first 14 patients treated with VB10.NEO plus standard of care checkpoint inhibitors in the Phase I/IIa VB N-01 trial for various locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors including squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). The preliminary data also showed the personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine was well tolerated...