Building on our legacy of pioneering transformational science, Bristol Myers Squibb is the first company with two approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies in hematologic malignancies with two distinct targets addressing separate blood cancers. Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel) targets CD19 and treats adults with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma, and Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel) targets BCMA and is the first CAR T cell therapy for multiple myeloma approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
What makes autologous, or patient-derived, CAR T cell therapy so transformational? Through a complex and personalized manufacturing process, these innovative therapies reprogram a patient’s own T cells to fight cancer, and bring the possibility of long-term survival. As a leader in this space, Bristol Myers Squibb continues to explore novel ways to make CAR T and other cell therapies more efficient, scalable and accessible. A new generation of CAR T cell therapies is being studied using the NEX T™ manufacturing process which may produce CAR T cell drug products in a shorter amount of time, with enhanced quality and control.
We are also pursuing early research in allogeneic or “off-the-shelf” CAR T cells that are made from T cells of healthy donors or iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells) platforms–rather than the patient’s own T cells–and may be delivered to patients in a simpler, faster process.
Building on our broad expertise in cancer research, we are also advancing approaches to CAR T and other cell therapies that may treat solid tumors. These approaches include dual antigen targeting with logic gates to increase tumor specificity, CAR T cells armed with tunable or custom molecules aimed to overcome tumor microenvironment resistance, and discovery of new targets to enable T cell receptor development.
Cell therapies, like all our innovations, are centered on unmet serious needs of our patients. We are committed to advancing the science and putting more patients on the path to a cure.