Emily Cukier-Meisner

While regulatory changes in China have helped clear the way for rapid growth of its clinical trial infrastructure, the country’s dearth of clinical experts could hold back the expansion until new talent is up to speed. The shortfall could to take up to five years to resolve. Last year, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) made it easier to qualify hospitals to run clinical trials and shortened the time it takes to start Phase I testing.

To make cell therapies work in solid tumors, drug companies will have to either master combination therapies or figure out how to make their treatments trigger broad immune responses that extend beyond the antigen specificity of the engineered cells. That was the consensus of academic researchers who attended at a two-day workshop on the topic held by NCI on Dec. 10-11.

9:46 AM Dec 07, 2018 Print PDF Enhanced persistence and redirection of universal cells are among approaches companies are using to create the next generation of BCMA (tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 17; TNFRSF17; CD269)-targeted CAR T cell therapies for multiple myeloma, according to two oral abstracts presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Diego. Treatment with bb21217, an anti-BCMA CAR T cell therapy from bluebird bio Inc. (NASDAQ:BLUE) and Celgene Corp.