"The Mainz-based company Biontech is working on new tumor therapies. One of the drugs stopped cancer growth in a dose trial. In 2024, tests will be carried out to determine whether the combination drug can be approved.
The Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech reports progress in the development of a novel cancer therapy. This is a combination of so-called CAR T cells and an mRNA vaccine. The company reports that in a trial to determine the appropriate dose, 74 percent of patients had cancer stop growing and 45 percent even shrank. These values were determined in 38 patients. At the apparently most effective dosage, tumor growth was stopped in 95 percent of cases and the tumor became smaller in 59 percent.
CAR-T cells are artificially modified immune cells that have been equipped with special receptors to be able to recognize structures on the surface of cancer cells. For the mRNA vaccination, the DNA of a tumor is sequenced to identify the genetic information that is characteristic of the patient's cancer. Using this information, an mRNA is produced and administered to the patient. The immune system then uses the template to produce building blocks of cancer cells that can be recognized by the immune system and combated in a targeted manner. In the therapy being tested, the vaccine targets the same cancer protein as the CAR-T cells.
Mostly only mild side effects
According to Biontech, the combination therapy called BNT211 is characterized by the fact that, on the one hand, the surface structures on the cancer cells are better recognized and, on the other hand, the CAR-T cells remain functional for longer. During the dose trials, side effects such as fever and low blood pressure occurred, although the symptoms were mostly mild. The aim of the ongoing study to find the dose is to create the conditions for a clinical study relevant for approval. This is expected to begin next year.
BNT211 could be used against tumors that have a protein called claudin-6. These include ovarian cancer, sarcomas, testicular cancer, uterine cancer and stomach cancer. The dose trials treated patients suffering from ovarian cancer, germ cell tumors and other solid tumors in advanced stages." [1]
1. Neue Krebstherapie von Biontech offenbar wirksam. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (online) Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. Oct 24, 2023. Von Sascha Zoske
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