JNJ's Dual-targeting CAR T-cell Therapy Shows Encouraging First Results In Large B-cell Lymphoma

(RTTNews) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced the first clinical data from an ongoing Phase 1b study for JNJ-90014496 (JNJ-4496), an investigational dual-targeting anti-CD19/CD20 bispecific autologous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, being studied in patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma who have not been previously treated with CAR T-cell therapy.

Findings demonstrate the potential of JNJ-4496 in the treatment of patients with R/R LBCL, including R/R diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) - the most common type of aggressive lymphoma, a blood cancer that originates in the lymphatic system.

JNJ-4496, formerly known as C-CAR039, is a dual-targeting CAR T designed to bind to both CD19 and CD20 antigens — two cell surface proteins commonly expressed on malignant B-cells.

"There is a pressing need to continue advancing therapies for patients with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Only about 40 percent of patients have long-term remissions with currently available single-antigen-targeting CD19 CAR T therapies," said Krish Patel*, M.D., Director of Lymphoma Research, Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI), and principal study investigator. "The data presented today show encouraging clinical activity and promising safety, and represent a step forward in delivering a potential new treatment option to patients living with the most common type of aggressive lymphoma."