Gamida Cell Ltd. announced new early data in 10 patients with CD20 positive non-Hodgkin lymphoma enrolled in the first three cohorts in an ongoing multicenter Phase 1 study of natural killer (NK) cell therapy candidate GDA-201. The study is designed to evaluate safety and determine the maximum tolerated dose. Enrolled patients were heavily pretreated with a median of six prior lines of therapy, including CAR-T cell therapy (six patients) and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (four patients).

Preliminary results showed marked shrinkage of target lesions in five patients; efficacy evaluation showed two patients with complete response, two with partial response, and one with stable disease. No dose-limiting toxicities were reported in the 10 patients treated with doses up to 1x108 cells/kg GDA-201 in combination with rituximab. Activity appears to be dose dependent with two of the three patients in Cohort 3 responding.

The fourth and final cohort of the study, at the target dose level of 2x108 cells/kg, is currently enrolling. The 10 enrolled patients were diagnosed with diffuse large /high grade B cell lymphoma (6), marginal zone lymphoma (2), follicular lymphoma (1) and mantle cell lymphoma (1). Successive cohorts of patients received dose levels of 2.5x107 cells/kg, 5x107 cells/kg and 1x108 cells/kg of GDA-201 with rituximab after fludarabine/cyclophosphamide lymphodepletion.

Two patients treated had cytokine release syndrome (grade 1 and grade 2, respectively). The most common grade 3-4 adverse event was transient neutropenia. There were no reported cases of immune effector cell associated neurotoxicity syndrome or graft versus host disease.

There was one death from progressive disease. The NK cells which comprise GDA-201 are powered by Gamida Cell?s proprietary NAM technology, which enhances and expands cells to enhance functionality and phenotype, increase metabolic fitness and reduce oxidative stress. These functional qualities were studied in detail in a recent study published in July 2023 in Science Translational Medicine, which showed that NK cells cultured with NAM had increased energy levels, enhanced ability to arrive at and invade tumors, and an ability to efficiently eradicate malignant cells in the harsh conditions of the tumor microenvironment.

Additionally, the publication includes clinical data from 19 non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients who received the fresh formulation of GDA-201 in a Phase 1 study conducted at the University of Minnesota. GDA-201 exhibited a promising efficacy profile, with an overall response rate of 74% and a complete response rate of 68%. While GDA-201 cells were detected up to 14 days in patients?

blood, the median duration of response was 16 months (range: 5-36 months), suggesting that GDA-201 treatment may prime an endogenous anti-tumor immune response.