Candidate: T cell therapy
Type: Treatment based on gamma-delta T cells (GDTs) that are pre-programmed to target a wide range of diseases including many cancer types, based on the company’s scalable allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapy platform.
Status: TC BioPharm said July 1 that it gained approval from the U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to treat patients hospitaliZed with COVID-19. TC BioPharm said it aims to commence clinical safety studies in the next few weeks. The initial clinical trial site is anticipated to be the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
The trial’s chief investigator will be Nik Hirani, MD, PhD, clinical director of respiratory medicine at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and principal investigator at University of Edinburgh, MRC Centre for Inflammation Research. Hospitalized patients will receive treatment following confirmation of COVID-19 infection, with the intention of preventing their need for intensive care.
TC BioPharm has cited the safety and efficacy of its GDTs in late-stage patients with acute myeloid leukemia, citing a significant reduction in tumor burden within 14 days of commencing treatment. The company says it manufactures the GDTs for shipping to hospitals as cryopreserved product, ready for use as patients develop severe symptoms following COVID-19 infection.
COVID-19: 200 Candidates and Counting
To navigate through the >200 potential therapeutic and vaccine options for COVID-19, GEN has grouped the candidates into four broad categories based on their developmental and (where applicable) clinical progress:
● FRONT RUNNER – the most promising therapeutics/vaccines based on clinical progress, favorable data or both.
● DEFINITELY MAYBE – earlier phases with promising partners, or more advanced candidates in development that have generated uneven data.
● KEEPING AN EYE ON… – interesting technology, attracting notable partners, or both, but preliminary data.
● TOO SOON TO TELL – longshots pending additional experimental and/or clinical data.
GEN has also tagged the most common treatment types:
● ANTIVIRAL
● VAX
● ANTIBODY
● RNA
