Fate Therapeutics

Therapy developed with CIRM award used in new clinical trial for COVID-19

/ Yimy Villa / 1 Comment
Dr. Joshua Rhein, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine
Image Credit: University of Minnesota

While doctors are still trying to better understand how to treat some of the most severe cases of COVID-19, researchers are looking at their current scientific “toolkit” to see if any potential therapies for other diseases could also help treat patients with COVID-19. One example of this is a treatment developed by Fate Therapeutics called FT516, which received support in its early stages from a Late Stage Preclinical grant awarded by CIRM.

FT516 uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are a kind of stem cell made from reprogrammed skin or blood cells. These newly made stem cells have the potential to become any kind of cell in the body. For FT516, iPSCs are transformed into natural killer (NK) cells, which are a type of white blood cell that are a vital part of the immune system and play a role in fighting off viral infections.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, FT516 was used in a clinical trial to treat patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and B-cell lymphoma, which are two different kinds of blood cancer.

Due to the natural ability of NK cells to fight off viruses, it is believed that FT516 may also help play a role in diminishing viral replication of the novel coronavirus in COVID-19 patients. In fact, Fate Therapeutics, in partnership with the University of Minnesota, has treated their first COVID-19 patient with FT516 in a new clinical trial.

In a news release, Dr. Joshua Rhein, Physician at the University of Minnesota running the trial site, elaborates on how FT516 could help COVID-19 patients.

“The medical research community has been mobilized to meet the unique challenges that COVID-19 presents. There are limited treatment options for COVID-19, and we have been inundated daily with reports of varying quality describing the potential of numerous therapies. We know that NK cells play an important role in responding to SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, and that these cells often become depleted in infected patients. Our intent is to replenish NK cells in order to restore a functional immune system and directly target the virus.”

In its own response to the coronavirus pandemic, CIRM has funded three clinical trials as part of $5 million in emergency funding for COVID-19 related projects. They include the following: a convalescent plasma study conducted by Dr. John Zaia at City of Hope, a treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome (a serious and lethal consequence of COVID-19) conducted by Dr. Michael Matthay at UCSF, and a study that also uses NK cells to treat COVID-19 patients conducted by Dr. Xiaokui Zhang at Celularity Inc.  Visit our dashboard page to learn more about these clinical projects.

An off-the-shelf cancer killer

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment
iPS Cell: Photo from the lab of Kathrin Plath at UCLA

One of the hottest areas in cancer research right now is the use of CAR-T treatments. These use the patient’s own re-engineered immune system cells to target and kill the tumor. But the thing that makes it so appealing – using the patient’s own cells – also makes it really complicated and expensive. Creating a custom-made therapy from each patient’s own cells takes time and costs a lot of money. But now a new approach could change that.

Fate Therapeutics has developed an off-the-shelf therapy (thanks to CIRM funding) that could, theoretically, be stored at hospitals and clinics around the country and used whenever it’s needed for anyone who needs it.

At this year’s meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Fate announced that the first patient treated with this new approach seems to be doing very well. The patient had acute myeloid leukemia and wasn’t responding to conventional treatments. However, following treatment with Fate’s FT516 the patient responded quickly and – according to STAT News’ Adam Feuerstein – was able to leave the hospital and spend Thanksgiving with his family.

Equally impressive is that 42 days after being treated with FT516, the man showed no signs of leukemia in either his bone marrow or blood.

FT516 is designed to provide a one-two combination attack on cancer. It’s made up of the wonderfully named natural killer (NK) cells, which are a critical part of our immune system defenses against cancer. These NK cells are created by using the iPSC process and have been genetically modified to express a protein that boosts their cancer-killing abilities.

Because these cells are manufactured they can, if effective, be produced in large numbers and stored for whenever needed. That would not only dramatically reduce costs but also make them more widely available when they are needed.

This is only one patient and the follow-up is still relatively short. Even so, the results are encouraging and certainly give hope that Fate is on to something big. We’ll be keeping track and let you know how things progress.

First patient treated for colon cancer using reprogrammed adult cells

/ Yimy Villa / 3 Comments
Dr. Sandip Patel (left) and Dr. Dan Kaufman (center) of UC San Diego School of Medicine enjoy a light-hearted moment before Derek Ruff (right) receives the first treatment for cancer using human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Photo courtesy of UC San Diego Health.

For patients battling cancer for the first time, it can be quite a draining and grueling process. Many treatments are successful and patients go into remission. However, there are instances where the cancer returns in a much more aggressive form. Unfortunately, this was the case for Derek Ruff.

After being in remission for ten years, Derek’s cancer returned as Stage IV colon cancer, meaning that the cancer has spread from the colon to distant organs and tissues. According to statistics from Fight Colorectal Cancer, colorectal cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death among men and women combined in the United States. 1 in 20 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in their lifetime and it is estimated that there will be 140,250 new cases in 2019 alone. Fortunately, Derek was able to enroll in a groundbreaking clinical trial to combat his cancer.

In February 2019, as part of a clinical trial at the Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health in collaboration with Fate Therapeutics, Derek became the first patient in the world to be treated for cancer with human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). hiPSCs are human adult cells, such as those found on the skin, that are reprogrammed into stem cells with the ability to turn into virtually any kind of cell. In this trial, hiPSCs were reprogrammed into natural killer (NK) cells, which are specialized immune cells that are very effective at killing cancer cells, and are aimed at treating Derek’s colon cancer.

A video clip from ABC 10 News San Diego features an interview with Derek and the groundbreaking work being done.

In a public release, Dr. Dan Kaufman, one of the lead investigators of this trial at UC San Diego School of Medicine, was quoted as saying,

“This is a landmark accomplishment for the field of stem cell-based medicine and cancer immunotherapy. This clinical trial represents the first use of cells produced from human induced pluripotent stem cells to better treat and fight cancer.”

In the past, CIRM has given Dr. Kaufman funding related to the development of NK cells. One was a $1.9 million grant for developing a different type of NK cell from hiPSCs, which could also potentially treat patients with lethal cancers. The second grant was a $4.7 million grant for developing NK cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to potentially treat patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).

In the public release, Dr. Kaufman is also quoted as saying,

“This is a culmination of 15 years of work. My lab was the first to produce natural killer cells from human pluripotent stem cells. Together with Fate Therapeutics, we’ve been able to show in preclinical research that this new strategy to produce pluripotent stem cell-derived natural killer cells can effectively kill cancer cells in cell culture and in mouse models.”

Stem Cell Agency invests in stem cell therapies targeting sickle cell disease and solid cancers

/ Karen Ring / Leave a comment

Today CIRM’s governing Board invested almost $10 million in stem cell research for sickle cell disease and patients with solid cancer tumors.

Clinical trial for sickle cell disease

City of Hope was awarded $5.74 million to launch a Phase 1 clinical trial testing a stem cell-based therapy for adult patients with severe sickle cell disease (SCD). SCD refers to a group of inherited blood disorders that cause red blood cells to take on an abnormal, sickle shape. Sickle cells clog blood vessels and block the normal flow of oxygen-carrying blood to the body’s tissues. Patients with SCD have a reduced life expectancy and experience various complications including anemia, stroke, organ damage, and bouts of excruciating pain.

A mutation in the globlin gene leads to sickled red blood cells that clog up blood vessels

CIRM’s President and CEO, Maria T. Millan, explained in the Agency’s news release:

Maria T. Millan

“The current standard of treatment for SCD is a bone marrow stem cell transplant from a genetically matched donor, usually a close family member. This treatment is typically reserved for children and requires high doses of toxic chemotherapy drugs to remove the patient’s diseased bone marrow. Unfortunately, most patients do not have a genetically matched donor and are unable to benefit from this treatment. The City of Hope trial aims to address this unmet medical need for adults with severe SCD.”

The proposed treatment involves transplanting blood-forming stem cells from a donor into a patient who has received a milder, less toxic chemotherapy treatment that removes some but not all of the patient’s diseased bone marrow stem cells. The donor stem cells are depleted of immune cells called T cells prior to transplantation. This approach allows the donor stem cells to engraft and create a healthy supply of non-diseased blood cells without causing an immune reaction in the patient.

Joseph Rosenthal, the Director of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the City of Hope and lead investigator on the trial, mentioned that CIRM funding made it possible for them to test this potential treatment in a clinical trial.

“The City of Hope transplant program in SCD is one of the largest in the nation. CIRM funding will allow us to conduct a Phase 1 trial in six adult patients with severe SCD. We believe this treatment will improve the quality of life of patients while also reducing the risk of graft-versus-host disease and transplant-related complications. Our hope is that this treatment can be eventually offered to SCD patients as a curative therapy.”

This is the second clinical trial for SCD that CIRM has funded – the first being a Phase 1 trial at UCLA treating SCD patients with their own genetically modified blood stem cells. CIRM is also currently funding research at Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research Institute and Stanford University involving the use of CRISPR gene editing technologies to develop novel stem cell therapies for SCD patients.

Advancing a cancer immunotherapy for solid tumors

The CIRM Board also awarded San Diego-based company Fate Therapeutics $4 million to further develop a stem cell-based therapy for patients with advanced solid tumors.

Fate is developing FT516, a Natural Killer (NK) cell cancer immunotherapy derived from an engineered human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line. NK cells are part of the immune system’s first-line response to infection and diseases like cancer. Fate is engineering human iPSCs to express a novel form of a protein receptor, called CD16, and is using these cells as a renewable source for generating NK cells. The company will use the engineered NK cells in combination with an anti-breast cancer drug called trastuzumab to augment the drug’s ability to kill breast cancer cells.

“CIRM sees the potential in Fate’s unique approach to developing cancer immunotherapies. Different cancers require different approaches that often involve a combination of treatments. Fate’s NK cell product is distinct from the T cell immunotherapies that CIRM also funds and will allow us to broaden the arsenal of immunotherapies for incurable and devastating cancers,” said Maria Millan.

Fate’s NK cell product will be manufactured in large batches made from a master human iPSC line. This strategy will allow them to treat a large patient population with a well characterized, uniform cell product.

The award Fate received is part of CIRM’s late stage preclinical funding program, which aims to fund the final stages of research required to file an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration. If the company is granted an IND, it will be able to launch a clinical trial.

Scott Wolchko, President and CEO of Fate Therapeutics, shared his company’s goals for launching a clinical trial next year with the help of CIRM funding:

“Fate has more than a decade of experience in developing human iPSC-derived cell products. CIRM funding will enable us to complete our IND-enabling studies and the manufacturing of our clinical product. Our goal is to launch a clinical trial in 2019 using the City of Hope CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinic.”