Mustang Bio, Inc. announced its expansion into autoimmune diseases with MB-106, a personalized CD20-targeted, 3rd-generation autologous CAR T-cell therapy. MB-106 is being developed in a collaboration between Mustang and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (?Fred Hutch?). Mustang and Fred Hutch are in preliminary discussions to explore a potential Phase 1 investigator-sponsored clinical trial to evaluate MB-106 for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

This expansion is supported by promising scientific evidence. Several antibody therapies targeting CD20 on B-cells have successfully transitioned from cancer to autoimmune diseases, such as rituximab for both lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis. Additionally, clinical studies with CAR-T therapies have already demonstrated early success in the treatment of autoimmune conditions, with published reports showing remission in patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus and other autoimmune diseases.

MB-106 is currently in a Mustang-sponsored multicenter Phase 1/2 clinical trial for relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (?NHL?) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (?CLL?). Mustang expects to enroll the first patient in a registrational study evaluating MB-106 for Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (?WM?), a rare type of B-Cell NHL, in the second half of this year.