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
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell therapy, or CAR T-cell therapy, has revolutionized cancer treatment. First approved by the US Food and Drug administration in 2017, over 34,000 cancer patients have been treated to date.
However, while CAR T-cell therapies have proven to be highly effective against certain cancers, the costs associated with the development and administration of CAR T-cells are unacceptably high. In the US alone, estimates show that treatment of a single patient can cost between $300,000 and $600,000.
Clearly, while the science (and results) behind CAR T-cell treatments is exciting, the sky-high price tag associated with treatment must come down. Thankfully, there are ways to approach this issue.
BioInformant, the world’s largest stem cell industry blog says, “The high cost makes it (CAR-T cell therapy) inaccessible for many patients and poses a challenge for healthcare systems worldwide.”
In its coverage on the industry, the publication includes five ways to help reduce the costs of this life-saving treatment.
They are:
1: Producing the therapy in countries with lower manufacturing costs
2: Implementing point of care manufacturing
3: Developing off-the-shelf (allogeneic) CAR T-cell therapies
4: Engineering CAR-T cells inside the body (in Vivo)
5: Expanding CAR-T to other indications
Of the high costs of CAR T-cell therapies, Peter Choo, Chairman of CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC) said, “Our goal, and I believe the goal of the entire industry, is to greatly reduce the costs of CAR-T cell therapy…
“Currently, while the technology has proven to be very beneficial, its cost is a very high barrier for the vast majority of those in need. BioInformant makes very good points in its coverage.
“I would add that our mission at CytoMed is to create a CAR-T cell therapy that incorporates most of BioInformant’s cost-cutting points, especially points 1,2, 3 and 5. Producing the therapy in a lower cost manufacturing region, and on-site in Asia. Developing an off-the-shelf, allogeneic therapy and expanding our therapies to treat a multitude of cancers, both solid tumors and blood.”
By manufacturing an allogeneic, off-the-shelf CAR T-cell therapy that targets a wide range of cancers, CytoMed Therapeutics, with manufacturing facilities in Malaysia, could help to not only reduce the high cost of CAR-T cell therapies, but bring the costs down enough to treat a much larger pool of qualified patients.
To learn more about CytoMed Therapeutic’s technology, visit HERE
Or, to read the BioInformant coverage, visit HERE
New research from SNS Insider shows the Regenerative Medicine Market is projected to be valued at $235.98 billion by 2032. Notably, the firm says the market, valued at $32.50 billion in 2023, is experiencing significant growth due to new, innovative therapies for chronic disease and advances in stem cell technology.
These new and innovative therapies look to target chronic disease, cancer, genetic disorders and degenerative conditions.
“In 2023, cell therapy held the dominant share of the regenerative medicine market, accounting for 35% of the total market share. This segment is experiencing robust growth due to its broad applicability in various therapeutic areas such as oncology, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurological diseases.
“The introduction of innovative treatments like CAR-T cell therapy has dramatically advanced the efficacy of cancer therapies, particularly in treating blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma,” an excerpt from the report shows.
Of the new research, Peter Choo, Chairman of CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC) said, “The prevalence of both chronic, degenerative disease and cancer is, unfortunately on the rise due to an aging world. I agree with SNS’s assessment of the 2032 market value for therapeutics targeting these conditions.
“I would add, however, CytoMed is right now working on CAR T-cell therapies that that target solid cancers. Not only blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma as the report notes, but an entire host of solid tumors as well.
“For this reason, and of course to assist patients of cancer and degenerative diseases, CytoMed Therapeutics has not only concentrated its efforts on its advanced, off-the-shelf allogenic CAR T-cell cancer therapies, but has acquired the valued assets of cord blood bank CellSafe International.
“This acquisition gives us direct access to rare precious cord blood. Naïve cord blood offers a wide range of opportunities in the fields of regenerative medicine and aging diseases, including auto-immune diseases.
“Further, we were able to acquire CellSafe’s assets at a very reasonable cost. These resources, combined with our scientific expertise, may allow the company to introduce advanced cell technology products into the fast-growing regenerative medicine market,” he said.
For more information on CytoMed Therapeutics and its acquisition of Cord Blood Bank, CellSafe International, visit HERE
Or, to access to the SRS report on Regenerative Medicine, visit HERE
In early January 2025, US President Donald Trump announced a massive artificial intelligence infrastructure project, called The Stargate Project, with one of its aims being to develop an AI cancer vaccine. The entire project is expected to be funded by up to $500 billion.
Oracle co-Founder and one of the project leads, Larry Elison said, “Turns out cancer tumors … little fragments of those tumors float around in your blood. You can do early cancer detection with a blood test, and using AI to look at the blood test you can find the cancers that are seriously threatening the person.”
However, even though investment in cancer research is welcomed, news from Asia may show that the size of the investment (although only a small portion will likely go to cancer research), may end up being somewhat wasteful.
You see, on January 20, 2025, Chinese developers released an AI model called DeepSeek-R1. The model, which by all accounts performs the same “tasks” as ChatGPT and other AI models, does so at a mere fraction of the infrastructure and energy costs of its competitors. Additionally, it is purported not require new and expensive Nvidia chips, nor massive data centers to operate.
As news broke of the development, shares in Nvidia (NVDA) plummeted.
The Cost Effectiveness of The Asian Marketplace
When it comes to cost savings across all product types, Asian scientists and manufacturers have clearly taken the lead. Which brings us to advanced cancer therapy and Singapore-based CytoMed Therapeutics’ (NASDAQ: GDTC) role in helping to fight both solid and blood cancers.
Recall, Larry Elison said of the AI cancer vaccine project, “Using AI to look at the blood test you can find the cancers that are seriously threatening the person.” This may very well be true. But it’s actually fighting those cancers after they metastasize, not simply detecting them beforehand, that can make a real difference for human life.
While mRNA cancer vaccines can work (and the Stargate Project looks to assist in their development), they have, so far, shown limited success in actually curing patients. However, they have been shown, as noted by the Royal College of Pathologists, to work well alongside CAR T-cell therapies.
This is where Asia-based CytoMed looks to make cancer therapies effective, accessible and affordable, at potentially a fraction of the cost of current, and proven CAR T-cell therapies.
As an article in USA Today says, “In Singapore, one biotech company is changing how we approach cancer treatment. CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC), just launched its ANGELICA clinical trial, to fundamentally change how we make cancer treatments available to patients worldwide.”
“Building on the success of CAR T-cell therapy in treating blood cancers, they’re taking things to the next level by tackling a broader range of cancers while making the whole process quicker, easier, and more affordable for patients.”
CytoMed Chairman, Peter Choo said, “Think of it as training a versatile army of super-soldiers to fight cancer. Traditional CAR T-cell therapy takes soldiers from the patient’s own body, but these soldiers are often weakened because the patient has already been through multiple rounds of chemotherapy.
“Instead, we’re recruiting healthy soldiers from disease-free, healthy donors and equipping them with special targeting systems to hunt down cancer cells.”
With current CAR T-cell therapies costing as much as USD $500,000 per patient, it’s CytoMed’s approach to creating an allogenic “off-the-shelf” therapy the company believes could bring down costs significantly, while opening the life-saving technology up to a far larger patient pool.
“We are actively seeking partners and exploring ways for no-option terminal cancer patients, anywhere in the world, to access our affordable therapeutics on a compassionate trial, especially in places supportive of such advanced medicine,” said Mr. Choo.
Regardless of whether $500 billion in AI infrastructure can assist in the creation of cancer vaccines, or if those vaccines will show true efficacy, CytoMed’s ultimate goal is to make CAR T-cell therapies, advanced cancer therapies that already show efficacy, far more affordable.
As Mr. Choo notes, “Just like DeepSeek has shown us, it’s not simply the amount of money thrown at a project, it’s how effectively and efficiently that money is utilized.”
Learn more about CytoMed Therapeutics’ (NASDAQ: GDTC) technology, and how the company strives to make advanced cancer therapies more accessible and affordable, HERE
Or read the full coverage of CytoMed Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GDTC) in USA Today, HERE