• Safety data encouraging with no graft-versus-host-disease and no neurotoxicity
• Updated data highlighted in podium presentation at the 17^th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma expand upon favorable results presented at 2022 Annual Meeting of American Society of Hematology (ASH)

Tessa Therapeutics Ltd. (Tessa), a clinical-stage cell therapy company developing next-generation cancer treatments for hematological malignancies and solid tumors,  announced promising safety and efficacy data from a study of its off-the-shelf CD30.CAR EBVST therapy (TT11X) in patients with relapsed or refractory (R/R) Hodgkin lymphoma. The results were presented by Tessa collaborators at the Baylor College of Medicine in an oral podium presentation at the 17th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (ICML) taking place at Lugano, Switzerland. TT11X, Tessa’s allogeneic “off-the-shelf” cell therapy, is based on Tessa’s proprietary CD30.CAR-modified Epstein-Barr virus-specific T-cell (EBVST) platform. 

The podium presentation (#47), titled, “Off-the-shelf CD30.CAR EBV-specific T cells provide a safe and effective therapy for HL,” reported data from 18 heavily pre-treated patients with R/R Hodgkin lymphoma who were administered TT11X across four dosing levels (40 × 10⁶ CD30.CAR EBVSTs, 100 × 10⁶ CD30.CAR EBVSTs, 400 × 10⁶ CD30.CAR EBVSTs, and 800 × 10⁶ CD30.CAR EBVSTs). An overall response rate of 78% (14/18 patients) was observed across all four dose levels, including seven complete responses and seven partial responses, with higher doses producing improved clinical responses. Additionally, TT11X was demonstrated to be well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities observed, including no evidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) or immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS). Six episodes of possible cytokine release syndrome were all grade one (mildest of four grades).

“The data reported at ICML suggest that allogeneic CD30.CAR EBVSTs provide a potentially safe and efficacious treatment for CD30-positive lymphomas and affirm previously reported data indicating the technology may avert GVHD and immediate rejection even after multiple infusions,” stated Carlos Ramos, M.D., Professor at Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, USA. “Importantly, CD30.CAR EBVSTs elicited a clinical response in 14 of 18 patients with R/R Hodgkin lymphoma including seven complete responses. Based on these results, CD30.CAR EBVSTs appear to be a promising platform for off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy.”

Tessa is currently advancing a pipeline of products that utilize CD30.CAR-modified EBVSTs, including its lead allogeneic cell therapy, TT11X, which is being co-developed with the Baylor College of Medicine for the treatment of relapsed or refractory CD30-positive lymphomas. Tessa’s proprietary “off-the-shelf” CD30.CAR EBVST allogeneic cell therapy platform is based on decades-long research and development by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine into the unique properties of virus-specific T-cells (VSTs). These highly specialized T cells have the ability to recognize and kill infected cells while activating other parts of the immune system for a coordinated response. CD30-CAR Allogeneic VSTs without further genetic modification have demonstrated a strong safety profile and efficacy in early trials with minimal risk of GVHD.  

“The data presented at ICML are very promising and further validate our “off-the-shelf” CD30.CAR EBVST allogeneic cell therapy platform in R/R Hodgkin lymphoma,” stated Ivan Horak, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Tessa Therapeutics. “Tessa is steadfastly focused on advancing the development of TT11X as a potential treatment for CD30-positive lymphomas, while targeting opportunities to extend the EBVST platform to other cancer indications and enhance the cell performance and durability of the technology.”