PeproMene Bio is speeding up the development of a next-generation medication targeting different antigens to counter the high relapse rates associated with traditional chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies.

PeproMene Bio held a conference in Seoul on Thursday to unveil the results of a phase 1 clinical trial for its investigative B cell activating factor receptor (BAFF-R) CAR-T therapy. The clinical study involved two patients who experienced relapses after receiving conventional CAR-T treatment and one patient with large B-cell lymphoma. The study was conducted over the past year in the United States at the City of Hope, ranked 8th among cancer treatment specialist hospitals. All three patients who received PeproMene Bio’s BAFF-R CAR-T therapy recorded a 100 percent response rate.

“The clinical trial participants showed complete remission, and their condition remained stable even after six months,” according to a company’s spokesperson.

CAR-T therapy involves genetically modifying a patient’s T cells extracted from their body to express chimeric antigen receptors that recognize cancer cells as antigens. It is considered one of the most advanced forms of immunotherapy, primarily because it harnesses the patient’s own immune cells to fight the cancer. But the CAR-T therapy currently available in the market, which targets the CD19 molecule on leukemia cells, have relapse rates of up to 30 percent.

PeproMene Bio’s BAFF-R CAR-T therapy is thus being praised for addressing this issue, particularly for patients who had experienced relapse after previous CD19 CAR-T therapy.

Dr. Elizabeth Budde, who conducted the clinical trial, emphasized the significance of the results, saying that patients who received BAFF-R CAR-T therapy showed a complete or partial disappearance of symptoms. “We observed a continuous complete remission in patients who had lymphoma even after receiving CD19 CAR-T therapy, which is a remarkable outcome.”

Dr. Larry Kwak, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board at PeproMene Bio, highlighted the potential of BAFF-R as a next-generation immunotherapeutic solution for B-cell malignancies, including lymphoma and leukemia. He noted that the demand for medical solutions for relapsed patients in these areas has surged, as existing CAR-T therapies for B-cell lymphoma and leukemia are not available for relapsed patients.

Dr. Kwak is a world-renowned U.S. oncologist and serves as the deputy director of City of Hope’s comprehensive cancer center and as an oncology advisor to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

PeproMene Bio, located in Irvine, California was founded by Dr. Kwak in 2016.

By Shim Hee-jin and Minu Kim

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