[Washington University] A cell-based immunotherapy developed by Washington University researchers has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the US FDA.

[University of Colorado (CU) Anschutz] The University of Colorado Anschutz Gates Institute has received Investigational New Drug clearance from the US FDA, marking the first CAR-T cell therapy authorized for clinical testing that was developed entirely on the CU Anschutz campus.

[AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc.] AvenCell Therapeutics, Inc. announced that it has dosed the first patient in the Phase I QUADvance study with AVC-203 for the treatment of relapsed/refractory B cell malignancies.

[Journal of Hematology & Oncology] The authors summarize the core challenges limiting the efficacy and clinical application of CAR-macrophages, and provide an in-depth discussion of engineering strategies aimed at enhancing its anti-tumor activity through optimization of the CAR molecular structure.

[Stem Cell Research & Therapy] Combining hydrogel technology with CAR-T cell therapy represents a promising strategy to strengthen antitumor responses and improve treatment precision and safety.

[Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy] Researchers studied human macrophages derived from genetically engineered iPSCs with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) expression regulatable by a doxycycline-inducible promoter as a novel anti-cancer immunotherapy.

[Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy] Scientists demonstrated that circRNA-mediated CAR expression, when codelivered with IL-21, confers sufficient stability to withstand the continuous antigen shedding induced by cancer-associated fibroblasts, resulting in reduced CAR downregulation.

[Cell Death & Disease] The authors engineered an oncolytic herpes simplex virus expressing CXCL-11, IL-12 and a single-chain antibody against PD-1 to enhance CAR-T cell infiltration, cytotoxicity and persistence in the tumour microenvironment, thereby improving its therapeutic efficacy.

[Nature Communications] Investigators characterized a broad range of CARs with varying affinities to the same target epitope and leverage the insights gained to design a combined high- and low-affinity CAR product.

[Nature Communications] Researchers reported the design and evaluation of an optimized CD70 CAR that prevents rejection of allogeneic CAR T cells by targeting activated alloreactive lymphocytes.

[Molecular Therapy Oncology] Investigators developed a self-complementary adeno-associated virus (scAAV) vector, scAAV6-NeuroD1, and evaluated its therapeutic potential across glioblastoma (GBM) models, including multiple GBM cell lines, patient-derived organoids, and orthotopic models in immunodeficient mice.

[Lynk Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.] Lynk Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. announced that the New Drug Application (NDA) for its core product, zemprocitinib capsules, for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, has been formally accepted by the Center for Drug Evaluation of the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).