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Description
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy directed against CD19 antigen represents a major advancement in the personalized therapy of highly pretreated patients with B cell malignancies.
However, in spite of a very effective initial response, the durability of the treatment is suboptimal. The ALTER CAR project unites three partners with complementary expertise: Medical University of Warsaw,
Oslo University Hospital, and the Polish enterprise -Pure Biologics SA, committed to develop alternative CAR-based therapeutic solutions for leukemia and lymphoma patients with poor prognosis.
In the first stage of the project, we will employ a combined bioinformatics-transcriptomic-proteomic approach to select new targets for CAR T cells using established tumor cell lines. Chosen antigens will be
further validated in primary cells isolated from acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoma patients refractory to standard-of-care treatment. As a result of WP1, we will select 2-4 antigens as candidates for
CAR therapy, which in the second stage of the project will be used for designing a panel of CAR constructs. The initially designed CARs will be affinity-optimized and in a subsequent stage of the project
validated in pre-clinical settings using well-established in vitro and in vivo models. In a final stage, selected CAR/s will be manufactured as GMP-grade RNA for the first-in-man study. The final product of this
proposal will be one or more alternative CARs to be used in the treatment of patients.
Overall, the ALTERCAR project provides a unique opportunity to implement CAR T cell technology in Poland and develop alternative CAR T cells with new specificities, which may constitute a significant
advancement in CAR therapy. The long-term outcome of the project will be the establishment of a sustainable Polish-Norwegian network for the development and production of CAR-based therapies and other
adoptive strategies for clinical studies in various forms of cancer.