Advancing CAR-Treg cell therapy for renal transplantation

CAR-T_reg cell therapy is an exciting new immunotherapy approach, and holds much promise for improving outcomes in organ transplantation. This innovative treatment relies on regulatory T-cells (T_regs) engineered with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to modify immune responses, reducing transplant rejection rates. Sony Biotechnology shared the stage with scientific leaders from Sangamo Therapeutics, France, working on development of a proprietary CAR-Treg manufacturing process, at Advanced Therapeutics Week event in Miami in early 2023.

This collaboration represents a significant milestone in the field of cell therapy and was discussed by representatives from both Sangamo Therapeutics and Sony Biotechnology during the event. The joint team – which included Nadia Lounnas-Mourey (Associate Director for Process Development at Sangamo Therapeutics in France), Aditi Singh (Global Senior Marketing Manager at Sony Biotechnology) and Cedric Ait-Mansour (Global Senior Manager of Market Development at Sony Biotechnology) – highlighted the challenges they faced in isolating rare T_reg-cells from various sources, such as leukapheresis, using multiparameter cell selection.

During the presentation, the team explained how they recognized the need for better cell isolation technologies to improve the workflow, and highlighted the advantages of Sony's CGX10 Cell Isolation System. This solution offers multiple benefits – such as closed system technology, faster sorting speed, higher cell purity, excellent data integrity, and compliance with GMP standards – that make it an invaluable tool for isolating rare T_reg-cells.

The talk also included a discussion around the successful integration of the Sony technology into Sangamo Therapeutics’ proprietary CAR-T_reg manufacturing process. Sangamo Therapeutics pioneered the first-in-human Phase I/II clinical trial assessing HLA-A*02-CAR-T_reg cells in renal transplantation, known as the STEADFAST study. The first patient in this study received treatment in March 2022, marking groundbreaking progress in immunotherapy.

Sangamo Therapeutics and Sony Biotechnology aim to harness the power of CAR-T_reg-cells to reduce the risk of organ rejection and improve long-term graft survival, and their collaboration offers new hope for patients awaiting transplants.

To learn more about this exciting partnership, you can watch the full presentation here.