For many blood cancer patients, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have been a life saver. This exciting and promising technology has shown to produce powerful and prolonged immune responses, often destroying the cancer cells they target.
However, the caveats of current FDA approved CAR T-cell therapies are 1) time consuming due to their “customized” nature that can take several weeks to manufacture, 2) engineered directly from the affected patients’ own cells (autologous) and 3) mostly applicable for blood cancer treatment, with a few upcoming FDA approved CAR T-cell products specific for solid cancers such as Tecelra® (soft tissue cancer) and Amtagvi® (melanoma).
Enter the allogeneic and “off the shelf” immune cell-based therapies. These therapies are based on immune cells such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells that are manufactured from healthy donor cells, stored, and used on demand, resulting in a significant reduction in the “wait” time for cancer treatment from weeks to days.
Now, several companies are in the process of creating NK cell-based cancer therapies and, according to the American Association of Cancer Research, they’re getting close to a solution.
Senti-Biosciences, for example, recently showed several patients experiencing complete remission of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after being treated with their CAR-NK cell-based cancer therapy platform. But Senti is not the only company diligently working on a solution.
Peter Choo, Chairman of Singapore-based CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC) said, “It is very encouraging to see these early data from Senti. It is our belief that NK cell-based cancer therapies will be the next great breakthrough in cancer therapy.
“Our company, CytoMed, is developing an iPSC-γδ NK T-cell therapy product which we hope to reveal some data on, perhaps sometime later this year, or early next. This product is engineered as an allogeneic solution, which we believe ultimately could target a wide range of cancers and could do so at a lower cost than current, more narrowly targeted and time-consuming, CAR T-cell solutions.
“We encourage the scientific community to review our technology and see why we start with iPSCs at https://w2.cytomed.sg/ipsc-gamma-delta-nkt-cell/,” he concluded.
To read more about CytoMed Therapeutics, visit HERE
Or, for a quick review of the Senti data shown in The American Journal of Managed Care®, visit HERE
The first Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy (CAR T) for cancer was approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 30, 2017. As of 2025, a total of seven CAR T-cell therapies have been FDA approved. All of which have shown strong efficacy in the fight against cancer.
Although CAR T-cell therapies have led the way in the fight against cancer, especially blood cancer, researchers believe the next great breakthrough will come from Natural Killer cell based therapies.
As STAT, a health, medicine, and life sciences publication reports “NK cells are rapid responders in the fight against cancer that can recognize and destroy tumor cells without prior training.
“Unlike most T cell therapies, which require modifying each patient’s own cells, NK cells can be sourced from healthy donors, stem cells or cord blood banks to create an off-the-shelf, scalable treatment option.
“This difference could sidestep major hurdles in cell therapy, including high costs of therapy, toxicities and manufacturing bottlenecks that leave many patients without options.”
There are now clinical evidence showing that NK cells have the capability of delivering the results of CAR T cells, but with additional benefits including:
Lower toxicity, improved accessibility and scalability, and the potential to treat a wider range of cancer types beyond blood cancer.
For this reason, among others, CytoMed Therapeutics (a Singapore-based biotech listed on the Nasdaq with ticker symbol GDTC) has developed multiple products pipeline that include NK cell-based immunotherapy.
The company’s pipeline of cellular immunotherapies is based on novel technologies to manufacture “off-the-shelf” cellular-based cancer immunotherapies from healthy doner blood.
These products include the CAR-γδ T cell technology (CTM-N2D), unmodified γδ T cell technology (CTM-GDT) and iPSC-derived γδ NKT cell technology (gdNKT).
Excitingly, the gdNKT therapy exploits the combinatorial benefits of two immune cell types; the multiple antigen recognition systems of natural killer (NK) cells, and the GVHD (graft vs host disease) resistant γδ T cells for the treatment of a broad range of solid and blood cancers.
As noted earlier, STAT says, “Unlike most T cell therapies, which require modifying each patient’s own cells, NK cells can be sourced from healthy donors, stem cells or cord blood banks to create an off-the-shelf, scalable treatment option.”
In an effort to bolster its gdNKT technology, last October CytoMed acquired the cord blood banking license and assets of LongevityBank.
See more of CytoMed’s product pipeline, HERE
Or read STAT’s coverage on NK cells, HERE
On August 30, 2017, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the very first Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy (CAR T-cell), tisagenlecleucel (KymriahTM), for treatment of pediatric and young adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Eight years subsequently, we have witnessed tremendous advancements of immunotherapy in basic research and their breakthrough into clinical trials.
This is evident from the observation that seven CAR T-cell based cancer therapies were approved in the US in 2024 alone. Furthermore, there are over 1,000 clinical trials ongoing worldwide, in various stages, exploring this exciting technology for the treatment of diverse tumor types.
Mary McGann, PharmD, BCOP – a clinical pharmacy specialist in bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy – told Pharmacy Practice News, it’s “Definitely an exciting time. I feel like every year we almost double the number of CAR-T patients that we have.”
With the FDA having approved an additional six CAR T-cell treatments for use in qualified patients to date, the global market for CAR T-cell therapies is expected to reach at least $27 billion by 2033.
Amongst the companies participating in clinical trials right now, Cytomed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC) is exploring the use of its products as an “off-the-shelf” allogeneic cellular immunotherapy to be used for a broad spectrum of cancers.
Unlike most CAR T-cell therapies, CytoMed’s products aim to use healthy donor cells, rather than cells from compromised patients, to engineer the therapy by developing a single allogeneic product for the treatment of a wide array of cancers.
The company has an ongoing clinical trial currently in Singapore, with and an upcoming trial in India.
Cytomed Therapeutics’ Chairman, Peter Choo, said of the global increase in clinical trials and FDA approvals, “The science behind CAR T-cell therapies has shown to be a real-life saver. It is exciting to see the US FDA finally taking notice of its promise.
“While we are currently involved in two separate trials, we do believe this year, 2025, could very well prove to be the year where we, and the industry as a whole, are proven to not only be viable, but essential in the global fight against cancer.
“Further, our products, as a differentiator, look to treat a multitude of tumors, both solid and liquid, via commercial production, and to do so at a much lower cost than current therapies.
“By achieving this, we believe we could open up treatment for far more patients, with hopes of saving far more lives.”
With the large number of CAR T-cell therapies currently in clinical trials, the outlook for 2025 is very bright. However, the average cost per patient for CAR T-cell therapy in the United States often exceeds $400,000.
The key to real success, outside of patient remission, will be, as Mr. Choo believes, bringing the cost of CAR T-cell therapies down significantly, which is CytoMed’s core approach with its technology.
Read more about CytoMed Therapeutics’ pipeline, HERE
It’s been about 18 years since a four year girl diagnosed with neuroblastoma (a solid tumor cancer) received her first CAR T-cell therapy in clinical trial. Now in her 20’s, she’s been cancer-free for nearly two decades, one of the longest reported remissions following this breakthrough therapy.
However, while tens of thousands of patients have been treated to date with CAR T-cell therapies worldwide, many with great success, this particular case stands as a testament to science, and most importantly, where it is headed.
You see, the vast majority of CAR T-cell recipients are treated for hematological or blood cancers, as solid tumors like neuroblastoma have been, thus far, difficult to effectively target. Unfortunately for most of the patients in the trial cited above, the results were mixed.
Of the 19 children treated with CAR T-cell therapy (all diagnosed with neuroblastoma), 12 unfortunately died within seven years of treatment, and five were disease free after 10-15 years, with one patient (the young lady mentioned above) still in remission.
But a new clinical trial is soon taking place in India, with the ultimate objective to make cell therapy accessible to more patients.
CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC) in collaboration with SunAct Cancer Institute, has entered a Phase 1/Phase 2 clinical trial using CytoMed’s proprietary allogeneic gamma delta T cells for treating various cancers, including solid tumors.
Peter Choo, Chairman of CytoMed Therapeutics said, “CytoMed’s collaboration with SunAct is timely and complements our core focus of harnessing CytoMed’s proprietary off-the-shelf technologies to develop novel donor-derived cell-based allogeneic immunotherapies for the treatment of various cancers at affordable cost.
“We are aligned with the foresight of our partner SunAct to provide affordable no-option cancer therapeutics that could improve patients’ quality of life.”
Ultimately, should the trial prove successful, the company hopes to increase remission rates for solid tumor patients, while creating a CAR T-cell therapy that is far more affordable, wide ranging and accessible.
To read more about the CytoMed/SunAct collaboration, visit HERE
Or, to read more about the young lady who is nearing the two decade mark in remission, visit HERE