Lyell Immunopharma share price plummets after patient dies in CAR-T cell therapy cancer trial

Lyell Immunopharma Inc (NASDAQ:LYEL) shares are trading lower on Wednesday on heavy session volume of 5.79 million shares, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company published initial clinical and translational data from its Phase 1 study of LYL797, its first-generation reprogrammed ROR1 CAR T cell product candidate enhanced with proprietary anti-exhaustion technology.

This first dataset of 20 treated patients includes 16 patients with TNBC and four patients with non-small cell lung cancer and demonstrated dose-dependent clinical antitumor activity as well as the ability of LYL797 CAR T cells to proliferate, infiltrate tumors and kill cancer cells in patients with relapsed/refractory disease.

In patients with TNBC treated with LYL797, the objective response rate (ORR) was 40% and the clinical benefit rate (CBR) was 60% at a CAR-T cell dose of 150 x 106, with the CBR being 38% across all dose levels evaluable to date.

Common treatment-related adverse reactions in patients without lung metastases included headaches related to cytokine release syndrome (CRS) grades 1 and 2 and expected cytopenia due to lymphodepletion.

No reports of immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) attributable to LYL797.

Pneumonitis occurred in patients with lung metastases. The company said that dose escalation in these patients will continue separately and at a slower pace.

No dose-limiting toxicities were reported in patients without lung involvement.

The company reported one death (grade 5) due to respiratory failure on day 41.

All patients now receive prophylactic steroids prior to LYL797 treatment.

According to Lyell, the side effect of grade > 3 pneumonitis occurred only in patients with TNBC and lung metastases, with dose escalation being divided into two cohorts depending on lung involvement (primary lung disease, metastatic lung disease, or pleural effusion).

Price promotion: LYEL shares fell 35.9% to $1.31 at last check on Wednesday.

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This article “Lyell Immunopharma Stock Plunges After Patient Death in CAR-T Cell Therapy Cancer Trial” originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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