Christopher Ballas – VJRegenMed

Treating colorectal cancer with CoupledCAR technology

Simon Ng — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 17:46:22 +0000

Christopher Ballas, PhD, Innovative Cellular Therapeutics, Rockville, MD, comments on progress in evaluating CoupledCAR, a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy designed for solid tumors, in colorectal cancer. The investigational CAR T-cell therapy targets the antigen guanylate cyclase 2C (GCC) and whilst it is also expressed in normal tissue, targeting GCC has proven to be safe. Institutional Review Board (IRB) trials have demonstrated promising efficacy in patients in the third line setting. Dr Ballas additionally highlights how the target can be altered to treat alternative indications such as thyroid and prostate cancer. This interview took place at Advanced Therapies Week 2022.

Adapting to challenges in manufacturing cell therapies for solid tumors

Simon Ng — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 17:46:20 +0000

Whilst chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have been successful in hematological malignancies, solid tumors remain an unmet need especially in patients with colorectal cancer. Christopher Ballas, PhD, Innovative Cellular Therapeutics, Rockville, MD, describes strategies to increase the production of CAR T-cell therapies for solid tumors. Decentralized manufacturing and automation will enable therapies to be produced in a shorter timeframe, improve quality control, and facilitate the regulatory process. However, logistics and cost are issues that still need to be addressed. This interview took place at Advanced Therapies Week 2022.

Current developments in cell therapies for solid tumors

Simon Ng — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 15:00:50 +0000

Christopher Ballas, PhD, Innovative Cellular Therapeutics, Rockville, MD, provides an overview of the ongoing landscape of cell therapy targeting solid tumors. Solid tumors are more difficult to target compared to liquid tumors due to the lack of tumor specific targets. Whilst there has been advances in immunotherapies such as tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies, their efficacy has yet to match those of ones targeting hematological malignancies. However, advances in other therapeutic classes such as checkpoint inhibitors, natural killer (NK) cells, and gamma delta (γδ) T cells may present promising cell therapies for solid tumors. This interview took place at Advanced Therapies Week 2022.

CoupledCAR Platform Technology in solid tumors

Simon Ng — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 15:00:49 +0000

Christopher Ballas, PhD, Innovative Cellular Therapeutics, Rockville, MD, discusses the mechanism of action of the CoupledCAR platform, which aims to overcome issues associated with targeting solid tumors with cell therapy. Dr Ballas describes the development of an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell with a PD-1 dominant negative receptor, which was found to induce proliferation of other T cells. This property enabled proliferation of CAR T-cells in solid tumors, which addresses issues relating to infiltration of cell therapies in solid tumors. This interview took place at Advanced Therapies Week 2022.