Humanigen, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing its portfolio of next-generation cell and gene therapies for the treatment of cancers via its novel, GM-CSF neutralization and gene-knockout platforms. As a leader in GM-CSF pathway science, we believe that we have the ability to transform CAR-T therapy and a broad range of other T-cell engaging therapies, including both autologous and allogeneic cell transplantation. There is a direct correlation between the efficacy of CAR-T therapy and the incidence of life-threatening toxicities (referred to as the efficacy/toxicity linkage). We believe that our GM-CSF neutralization and gene-editing platform technologies have the potential to reduce the inflammatory cascade associated with serious and potentially life-threatening CAR-T therapy-related side effects while preserving and potentially improving the efficacy of the CAR-T therapy itself, thereby breaking the efficacy/toxicity linkage. Clinical correlative analysis and pre-clinical in vivo evidence points to GM-CSF as the key initiator of the inflammatory cascade resulting in CAR-T therapy’s side-effects. Pre-clinical in vivo data on the neutralization of GM-CSF using antibody or gene KO indicates that it is not required for CAR-T cell activity. Our strategy is to continue to pioneer the use of GM-CSF neutralization and GM-CSF gene knockout technologies to improve efficacy and prevent or significantly reduce the serious side-effects associated with CAR-T therapy.
We believe that our GM-CSF pathway science, assets and expertise create two technology platforms to usher in next-generation CAR-T therapies. Lenzilumab, our proprietary Humaneered® anti-GM-CSF immunotherapy, has the potential to be used in combination with any FDA-approved or development stage CAR-T therapy, as well as in combination with other cell therapies such as HSCT, to make these treatments safer and more effective. In addition, our GM-CSF knockout gene-editing platform has the potential to create next-generation CAR-T therapies that may inherently avoid any efficacy/toxicity linkage, thereby potentially preserving the benefits of the CAR-T therapy while altogether avoiding its serious and potentially life-threatening side-effects.
The company’s immediate focus is combining FDA-approved and development stage CAR-T therapies with lenzilumab, the company’s proprietary Humaneered® anti-human-GM-CSF immunotherapy, which is its lead product candidate. A clinical collaboration with Kite, a Gilead Company, was recently announced to evaluate the use of lenzilumab with Yescarta®, axicabtagene ciloleucel, in a multicenter clinical trial in adults with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma. The company is also focused on creating next-generation combinatory gene-edited CAR-T therapies using strategies to improve efficacy while employing GM-CSF gene knockout technologies to control toxicity. The company is also developing its own portfolio of proprietary first-in-class EphA3-CAR-T for various solid cancers and EMR1-CAR-T for various eosinophilic disorders. The company is also exploring the effectiveness of its GM-CSF neutralization technologies (either through the use of lenzilumab as a neutralizing antibody or through GM-CSF gene knockout) in combination with other CAR-T, T cell engaging, and immunotherapy treatments to break the efficacy/toxicity linkage including the prevention and/or treatment graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) in patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT. The company has established several partnerships with leading institutions to advance its innovative cell and gene therapy pipeline.
Humanigen Submits Application to FDA for Emergency Use Authorization for Lenzilumab in COVID-19
May 28, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210528005244/en/Humanigen-Submits-Application-to-FDA-for-Emergency-Use-Authorization-for-Lenzilumab-in-COVID-19