The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the launch of the first clinical trial for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy in children with systemic lupus erythematosus.
The trial, called Reversing Autoimmunity through Cell Therapy (REACT-01), will take place at Seattle Children’s Hospital in Washington State and is expected to begin this summer.
The CAR-T therapy will target CD19 positive B-cells, an approach that has had promising results in a small number of adult patients. While the FDA has approved a number of clinical trials using CAR-T therapy to treat autoimmune diseases in adults, this is the first authorization for a CAR T-cell therapy trial to treat autoimmune disease in children.
REACT-01 will enroll 12 individuals under 18 years of age, Shaun W. Jackson, MD, PhD, the principal investigator of the trial and attending physician in Pediatric Nephrology and Pediatric Rheumatology at Seattle Children’s Hospital, told this news organization.
The trial will be initiated in separate phases, using three age cohorts. The first phase will enroll three individuals aged at least 17 years, before moving to the second phase and enrolling three individuals aged 12-17 years. Then, phase 3 will also include children aged 5-12 years.
To be eligible for the trial, participants must have failed at least two standard immunosuppressive therapies as well as have evidence of active lupus disease affecting a major organ system, such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys.
“Seattle Children’s Hospital will be the only site for this study, although patients can travel to Seattle to receive the therapy and then return back to their primary center for ongoing care,” Dr. Jackson said.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.