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Beam Therapeutics Reports Preclinical Data Highlighting Multiplex Base Editing Approach to Create Anti-CD5 CAR T-cell Investigational Therapies for T-Cell Malignancies
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beam Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAM), a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines
About this update from Beam Therapeutics Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beam Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAM), a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines through base editing, today announced new preclinical research demonstrating the ability of the company’s multiplex edited CAR T cells to target CD5-positive tumors, leading to tumor clearance in vivo. The data are highlighted in a poster titled, “CD5 knockout enhances the potency of multiplex base-edited allogeneic anti-CD5 CAR T-cell therapy for the treatment of T-cell malignancies,” at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s (SITC) 36th Annual Meeting, being held Nov. 10-14, 2021. CAR T therapies have the potential to address a number of T-cell malignancies, but their therapeutic potential is often hindered by technological limitations in their development and application. Beam has developed a process using base editing to simultaneously silence five target genes, including CD5 and PD1, to create allogeneic anti-CD5 CAR T-cells with enhanced effector function for potential use as off-the-shelf treatments for T-cell malignancies. “There is a significant unmet need in the treatment of T-cell lymphomas, as some indications have particularly poor prognoses and patients with relapsed or refractory disease have few treatment options that can produce deep and durable responses,” said Giuseppe Ciaramella, Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer of Beam. “We believe our approach using multiplex editing of T-cells to produce allogeneic anti-CD5 CAR T investigational therapies may offer enhanced potency and more durable responses for patients with T-cell malignancies. Importantly, our base editing approach is designed to avoid making double-stranded breaks in DNA that are produced by multiplex editing with nucleases, thereby decreasing the potential for translocations and other genomic aberrations with potential for unforeseen consequences, increasing their potential safety and tolerability.” Key findings reported in the poster include: Multiplexed base editing resulted in anti-CD5 CAR T cells with 94-98% editing efficiency at all 5 target loci and transduction efficiency of over 85%, which Beam believes is an efficiency at which the likelihood of graft versus host disease, CAR T rejection, and immunosuppression would be greatly reduced;CD5 knockout improved production of a com...