Sana Biotechnology highlights preclinical data on allogeneic CAR T cells

Sana Biotechnology announced preclinical data supporting the anti-tumor and immune evasion capabilities of allogeneic CAR T cells engineered with Sana‘s proprietary hypoimmune technology were presented at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA. On Sunday, December 10, abstract #3437 titled “Hypoimmune, Allogeneic CD22-Directed CAR T Cells That Evade Innate and Adaptive Immune Rejection for the Treatment of Large B Cell Lymphoma Patients That Are Relapsed/Refractory to CD19-Directed CAR T Cell Therapy” detailed preclinical data supporting the advancement of SC262, a CD22-directed HIP CAR T cell therapy, into human clinical studies. The results demonstrated that CD22 HIP CAR T cells evaded adaptive immune cell recognition and cytolysis through B2M and CIITA gene disruption and innate immune cell recognition through the overexpression of CD47. Furthermore, CD22 HIP CAR T cells elicited robust tumor control that produced cytokine/effector analytes and expanded in a dose- and antigen-dependent manner in vitro, with consistent effect across lots manufactured from different donors. CD22 HIP CAR T cells were well tolerated with no signs of graft-versus-host disease. Sana submitted the investigational new drug application and intends to begin human testing of SC262 in early 2024. On Sunday, December 10, abstract #3290 titled “Development of a Novel, Allogeneic GPRC5D-Directed CAR for Treatment of Multiple Myeloma Patients” outlined preclinical data demonstrating the characterization and candidate selection of fully-human GPRC5D-specific CARs for use in combination with HIP technology to develop an allogeneic GPRC5D CAR T cell therapy. The data showed that candidate GPRC5D CARs elicited in vitro cytotoxicity and effector cytokine production that is comparable to clinically validated benchmark control CARs. Additionally, these GPRC5D CAR T cells controlled multiple myeloma tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating efficacy that is on par with clinical benchmark GPRC5D CAR T cells.