Letter to shareholders - Celyad site
Autologous
Our future efforts in autologous will be primarily centered on our NKG2D-based CAR-T
candidates for the treatment of r/r AML and underpinned by our OptimAb manufacturing
process. r/r AML remains an aggressive disease with limited treatment options for patients.
As such, an autologous CAR-T product candidate demonstrating clinical benefit in patients
with advanced AML could play an important role in the treatment paradigm of the disease.
Allogeneic
We continue to strategically invest in both of our non-gene edited allogeneic platforms:
TIM and shRNA. Preliminary data from our TIM technology, which is embedded in our
lead allogeneic program CYAD-101, showed that a non-gene edited approach could be
used to avoid GvHD in an allogeneic setting. We are excited to further investigate our TIM
technology through our CYAD-100 series of NKG2D-based allogeneic programs, including
our recently announced preclinical candidate CYAD-103. In addition, fully investigating the
true potential of our shRNA technology to generate non-gene edited CAR-T candidates
should allow us to build a diverse pipeline of off-the-shelf CAR-T assets for the treatment
of both hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
Solid tumors
While fully understanding the significant challenges associated with the use of CAR-T cells
for the treatment of solid tumor, we continue to believe that the modality will eventually
be able to “crack the code” in solid tumors. One important consideration for the effective
treatment of solid tumors is selection of the proper tumor targets. We believe that the
NKG2D receptor holds the potential to be a key part of unlocking the success in solid
tumors given its ability to target multiple ligands expressed on not only on tumors but also
on cells within the tumor microenvironment and associated with tumor neovascularization.
“All-in-One” Vector
Finally, as we have aspired to drive efficiency into our CAR- T programs, we have designed
and developed our candidates to employ a single vector approach. Relying on an 'all-in-one'
vector approach for CAR-T generation helps streamline several processes used for all of
our assets. Importantly, the 'all-in-one' vector approach provides tremendous flexibility
but also has the potential to greatly reduce production time and costs, key factors when
developing potentially life-saving therapies.