In Forbes’ 5 Biggest Biotech Trends for 2022, top of the list is personalised medicine – of which CAR-T therapy is an outstanding example of.
CAR-T therapy harnesses the power of the immune system to fight cancer.
CAR-T cells are made from a patient’s own T cells, key immune cells. The T cells are isolated from a sample of the patient’s blood and then genetically modified to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) on their surface.
The CAR is targeted to recognise a specific marker on the surface of cancer cells. In the case of our LGR5 CAR-T cells, this marker is LGR5 – a cancer stem cell marker that is expressed on many cancers including colorectal cancer.
Carina is on track to take our LGR5 CAR-T cell into a first-in-human clinical trial in patients for advanced colorectal cancer later this year.
From the Forbes article:
“Steve Jobs once said that the biggest innovations in the 21st century would be at the intersection of biology and technology. It’s no coincidence that as we go into 2022, biotechnology is the focus of many of Jobs’ fellow 20th-century tech visionaries, including Bill Gates and Paul Allen…
“Traditionally drugs and medicine have been created on a ‘one-size-fits-all’ basis, and trials are used to establish which formulations are most beneficial to the widest segment of society. Today, modern genomics means it’s possible to tailor the formulation of medicines for individuals…
“Personalized medicine will be a strong focus throughout 2022, and researchers are confident it will lead to more effective and efficient treatments for many diseases.”
Click here to read the full article.