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The “warrior” T cells in the human body are equipped with a “navigation head” CAR that can recognize and locate them, transforming them into “super warriors” to achieve precise removal of cancer cells – this is the well-known CAR-T therapy, which has brought new hope to many patients with hematological malignancies.
Not only in treating hematological malignancies, can this group of “super warriors” open up new “battlefields” and bring new possibilities for the treatment of more diseases?
In response to this issue, Nanjing Jiangbei New Area enterprise Reindeer Biology has provided its own answer.
Recently, Reindeer Bio announced that the top international academic journal Cell published online the research results of its independently developed fully human targeted BCMA CAR-T cell therapy, ikiolencel injection, for the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis.
As a top academic journal in the field of life sciences, Cell, along with Nature and Science, is known as one of the “Three Top Journals of CNS”.
The CAR-T therapy of Reindeer Bio being featured in Cell indicates that the innovative force of cell therapy from Nanjing Jiangbei New Area is attracting global attention
New Breakthroughs in the Treatment of multiple sclerosis
It is reported that the research results published in Cell this time have, for the first time globally, confirmed the safety and efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy in the treatment of progressive multiple sclerosis.
Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, is known as the “killer of neurological health in young and middle-aged people”. Common symptoms include sensory and visual impairments, motor and coordination disorders, etc. In severe cases, patients may even experience difficulty walking or paralysis.
This study was initiated by the research team led by Professor Wang Wei from the Department of Neurology at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. A total of 5 patients with progressive multiple sclerosis participated.
In the study, all five patients received a single infusion of ikilolancel injection – a CAR-T product independently developed and fully produced by Reindeer Bio. It was approved for marketing by the National Medical Products Administration in June 2023 for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma and has benefited hundreds of multiple myeloma patients to date. It has also attracted over 40 overseas patients from Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and other regions to come to China for treatment.
After the patients received the infusion, significant therapeutic effects were observed: the mobility, hand function and walking speed of all patients improved, the “bad molecules” in the cerebrospinal fluid completely disappeared or were significantly reduced, and the disease progression stopped. More importantly, the treatment is safe, with 80% of patients experiencing only short-term and mild reactions and no serious side effects.
This is an important step we have taken in the field of cell therapy. Professor Wang Wei introduced that progressive multiple sclerosis has long been a difficult problem in the medical field, and traditional drugs have been unable to prevent the progressive deterioration of the disease course. In this study, 83% of the refractory patients achieved long-term clinical remission without the need for drug maintenance after treatment, which means that there are new possibilities for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Expand into autoimmune diseases
The remarkable therapeutic effect and good safety are encouraging achievements. It is worth mentioning that this is also the first time that Cell has published research results on the successful treatment of autoimmune diseases with BCMA-targeted CAR-T cell therapy, marking an important scientific breakthrough in this field.
In recent years, the application of CAR-T cell therapy in the treatment of malignant hematological malignancies has been widely accepted. Meanwhile, for autoimmune diseases, the second largest drug market after oncology, both the academic and industrial communities are exploring new possibilities. As a “leader” in the cell therapy field, Reindeer Bio is one of the earliest enterprises in the world to apply CAR-T therapy to the autoimmune field. As early as 2022, the team submitted the first clinical trial application for CAR-T cell therapy to treat autoimmune diseases in Jiangbei New Area.
After years of exploration, ikiolencel injection has now been approved for multiple clinical trials of autoimmune indications in both China and the United States, covering multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, systemic lupus erythematosus and other chronic diseases that are currently difficult to overcome in the field of autoimmunity.
The publication of this achievement in Cell demonstrates the therapeutic potential of iquiolancel in the field of autoimmune diseases. Zhang Jinhua, the founder, chairman and CEO of Reindeer Bio, said, “In the future, we will continue to accelerate our global layout, relying on our complete independent research and development and production system to promote the clinical transformation of more innovative cell therapies and bring fundamental treatment breakthroughs to patients with autoimmune diseases.”
From hematological malignancies to autoimmune diseases, the exploration and expansion of reindeer biology are rewriting the treatment landscape of many intractable diseases and bringing new hope to an increasing number of patients.
Anchoring on innovation, this team, which has a firm grasp of the clinical development and production capabilities of drugs, will also march towards a broader stage. The reindeer in the new district keep running ceaselessly.
