GOSH and Leucid to manufacture novel CAR T therapy

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In a first-of-its-kind commercial agreement, Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) will work with Leucid Bio to manufacture LEU011, a lateral Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) targeting NKG2D ligands. The CAR T therapy will be used in clinical studies for solid tumours and haematological malignancies.  

Under the agreement the parties will work together at state-of-the-art cleanroom facilities at the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children. It will provide quality assurance (QA) services required for manufacture for the LEU011 first-in-human study.

Stephen Mathew, Head of Innovation at GOSH shared: “Gene and cell therapies are the cutting-edge in clinical research, [they] offer hope for better, and potentially curative treatments which is why we’re excited to support innovation in gene therapies through access to these highly specialist and unique facilities.”

The novel lateral CAR T therapy

LEU011 is based on a novel lateral CAR structure, in which complementary signalling domains are integrated in parallel across the cell membrane. This formation replicates the natural side-by-side position of these molecules across the cell membrane seen in endogenous immune receptors. 

Leucid Bio’s two proprietary platforms build upon a novel ‘lateral’ CAR-T model which develops CAR-T molecules designed to adopt a more natural configuration within the T-cells.

The technology was developed by Dr John Maher, Leucid’s Chief Scientific Officer and Consultant and Senior Lecturer in Immunology at the Comprehensive Cancer Centre. The platform gives properties to the CAR-Ts that enable them to consistently outperform previous generations of CAR-T therapies in pre-clinical studies; enhancing T-cell potency and generating a persistent long-term response with reduced toxicity.

Credit: Leucid Bio

At the recent Advanced Therapies 2023, Dr Maher discussed Leucid Bio’s technologies for enhancing CAR T-cell efficacy in solid tumours.

Ian Miscampbell, Interim Executive Chairman of Leucid Bio commented on the new manufacturing agreement: “We are extremely pleased to enter this first-of-its-kind agreement with GOSH. Additionally, we are pleased to have started a process with GOSH to examine the feasibility of applying our approach in the paediatric setting where there remains a great unmet need for new therapies.”