On May 25, 2021 Autolus Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: AUTL), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T cell therapies, reported a publication in Nature Cancer that gives new insight into the mechanism of long-term durability of effect in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients treated with AUTO1 (Press release, Autolus, MAY 25, 2021, View Source [SID1234580566]).

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AUTO1 CAR T cells from pediatric ALL patients who still had CAR T cells detectable in the blood more than two years after their treatment were compared with patients who had lost their AUTO1 CAR T cells one to two months post treatment. The study shows that a subset of AUTO1 CAR T cells called Stem Cell Memory T-cells (TSCM) appear critical in both the initial anti-leukemic response and for long term immune surveillance. This suggests that this sub-group of AUTO1 CAR T cells contribute to the long-term durability of effect that AUTO1 has in these patients.

"AUTO1 has been designed to have an optimized interaction between its chimeric antigen receptor and the CD19 target on cancer cells," said Dr Martin Pule, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Autolus. "This means AUTO1 can efficiently deliver a kill and disengage rapidly like a normal T cell, leading to less exhaustion and less T cell differentiation. This unique property of AUTO1 potentially contributes to the enrichment and maintenance of this stem cell memory subset that appears to be critical to the long-term durability observed in pediatric ALL patients treated with AUTO1."