Cellectis S.A. Releases Preclinical Data on Candidate UCART20x22 At AACR

 Cellectis released preclinical data on its product candidate UCART20x22 at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting. The data showed robust pre-clinical proof of concept with the potential to overcome common mechanisms of resistance to CAR T-cell therapies in relapsed or refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (r/r NHL), such as single-antigen escape or tumor heterogeneity. UCART20x22 is Cellectis’ first allogeneic dual CAR T-cell product candidate being developed for patients with r/r NHL. It features TALEN®-mediated disruptions of the TRAC gene (to reduce the risk of graft-versus-host disease) and of the CD52 gene (to permit use of a CD52-directed monoclonal antibody in patients’ preconditioning) to enhance CAR T engraftment, expansion and persistence. Dual targeting of CD20 and CD22, both validated targets in B-cell malignancies, is designed to enhanced tumor cell killing and to prevent immune escape due to single-antigen targeting. UCART20x22 has the potential to offer an alternative to CD19-directed therapies and CD19 negative relapses. The poster presentation at AACR highlighted the following preclinical data: UCART20x22 showed strong activity against tumor cell lines expressing either a single antigen, CD20 or CD22, or both simultaneously. In vivo pre-clinical models demonstrate that UCART20x22 efficiently eradicates tumors expressing both or either antigen, and sustained presence of UCART20x22 cells was observed in the bone marrow after tumor clearance. In vitro assays against primary cells from Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma patients with diverse CD22 and CD20 antigen levels demonstrate that UCART20x22 has potent and specific cytotoxic activity. UCART20x22 is expected to be Cellectis’ first product candidate fully designed, developed and manufactured in-house, showcasing the Company’s transformation into an end-to-end cell and gene therapy platform from discovery, product development, GMP manufacturing, to clinical development. An Investigational New Drug application (IND) for UCART20x22 is expected to be filed this year.

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