Another good find.
This discusses a test to identify CAR-T and other therapies’ treatment resistance factors using cell-free plasma RNA analysis from a blood sample. For example, RNA encoding the STAB1 gene. For Faron, the main point is how Clever-1 is highlighted here by non-Faron parties. Why not also the development of said test, if a blood test suffices!
“These findings motivate prospective evaluation of cfRNA-guided risk stratification before CAR T-cell infusion, extension to additional cell therapy products and disease settings, and integration with TME-modulating treatment strategies. If validated, plasma cfRNA profiling may enable scalable, minimally invasive assessment of microenvironmental state to support patient stratification and therapeutic development in LBCL and potentially other malignancies.”
The opportunity for Faron comes from “TME-modulating treatment” and the fact that it was previously known that this type of lymphoma has a lot of Clever-1, and Maija was supposed to study these preclinically, and this article suggests that Clever-1 is a biomarker for poor prognosis. And here, a way to get a prognosis from a blood test was presented. As already stated earlier in the thread, even if CAR-T makes T-cells ready to attack, an immunosuppressive barrier can prevent even their function. One of the article’s references is Viitala’s and Maija’s work. And another is Rantakari’s.
CAR-T treatment is fragmented among numerous players, including big pharma and smaller ones. The treatments are prohibitively expensive, making them available to only a few, but they are becoming more commonplace. If a CAR-T player can overcome its treatment resistance, even partially, and gain an advantage over others, e.g., with Bex, it would be a significant market.
It belongs to the series of good news, but still requires clinical evidence, as always.