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Alaunos Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TCRT) fell ~17% on Friday as investors reacted to data from a Phase 1/2 trial for its T-cell receptor (TCR) cell therapy candidate in patients with solid tumors harboring KRAS or TP53 genetic mutations.
As of Feb. 2023, out of three patients who received the company’s Sleeping Beauty TCR-T cells, only one with a non-small cell lung (NSCLC) indicated a partial response and a six-month progression-free survival. The second patient showed a stable disease; the third had no improvement (progressive disease).
While there were no dose-limiting toxicities and unexpected adverse events, all three patients experienced cytokine release syndrome, which, according to investigators, was self-limiting or resolved after treatments in all three cases.
“Demonstrating our first objective clinical response in solid tumors using non-viral TCR-T cell therapy establishes proof-of-concept of our Sleeping Beauty cell engineering platform’s potential to generate safe, persistent, and effective TCR-T therapies,” CEO of Alaunos (TCRT) Kevin Boyle, Sr. said.
A study evaluated two dose levels, and a potential advancement to the third dose level is under consideration. The data will be part of a presentation at next month’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
