If you follow me on Twitter, then you may have already seen the chart below. The response from the BioTwitter community was amazing – many found it to be a helpful snapshot of where things stand as we end the year. I also received a lot of great feedback, including a ton of companies being brought to my attention that previously weren’t on my radar. I plan to continuously improve and expand the graphic below to reflect all of the amazing innovation that is happening across the space.
Got some great feedback and wanted to share a slightly revised version with everyone
— Andrew Pannu (@andrewpannu) December 17, 2022
Changes:
– Removed Lava Therapeutics
– Added ArsenalBio
– TIL legend icon in auto
Will add additional companies in future versions
If you had asked for a PDF previously, check your DMs https://t.co/Xg7UbMNHzY pic.twitter.com/s2OqSnKw2p
Reiterating some of the key points raised above:
As we pass the 5 year anniversary of Kymriah’s FDA approval & the launch of the commercial cell therapy space, it is clear that patient and physician awareness has hit an inflection point. The 6 FDA approved therapies and countless pipeline assets have collectively demonstrated some of the strongest efficacy data we have ever seen in oncology, resulting in progressively earlier treatment (Yescarta and Breyanzi are approved in 2L LBCL with some restrictions). Gradual product and manufacturing improvements and years of hospital experience have also greatly improved safety, including our ability to manage toxicity and other severe side effects.
But, there are areas for improvement: manufacturing and supply chain remains a bottleneck. There are too few slots available to accommodate demand and the problem will likely persist for a while. Myeloma doctors have begun to see the difficulty in obtaining usable product first hand with the approved anti-BCMA CAR-Ts (Abecma and Carvykti), something that lymphoma physicians have unfortunately become accustomed to with the CD19 CAR-Ts. Additionally, the infrastructure and expertise to dose and manage patients is largely concentrated within major research hospitals – only ~20% of patients in community hospitals are eligible for CAR-T, and the reality is that the travel, extended hospital stay and cost are not practical options for many patients. There’s a lot of work to do to roll these amazing medicines out to a more widespread patient population, especially in a nonspecialized hospital setting.
With that said, there’s a lot to be excited about. Despite representing only a snapshot of cell therapy players, the graphic does a nice job highlighting the multitude of approaches being pursued. Some of the innovation next-gen cell therapies are displaying include:
- Allogeneic therapies
- Overcoming TME
- Controlling cell expansion & persistence
- Increased solid tumor efficacy
- In vivo CAR delivery
- Reduced toxicity & side effect profile
- Alternative cell types and constructs
Kudos to everyone building in this space and hopefully the industry continues to rack up wins for patients!
A few notes on the graphic
- As noted in the top left, this is by no means an exhaustive list of every cell therapy company in the market. Rather, I’ve selected a representative sample across diverse modalities and clinical phase (excluding discovery stage assets)
- Similarly, the position of an asset within each phase does not imply how close that asset is to advancing to the next phase. Placement was done just to ensure everything fit as cleanly as possible
- If you would like to receive a PDF version of this graphic or if there are companies you would like me to add to the next version of this graphic, please DM me on Twitter @andrewpannu. If you’re not on Twitter, please email me at andrew@andrewpannu.com