Cell therapy scores year-long benefit in myasthenia gravis, heads to Phase III

US biotech Cartesian Therapeutics (Nasdaq: RNAC) has reported that patients with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) continued to experience lasting symptom relief 12 months after treatment with its investigational cell therapy Descartes-08, according to new data from a mid-stage trial.

The autologous mRNA CAR-T therapy was delivered as six weekly outpatient infusions without the need for preconditioning chemotherapy. Of 12 patients who completed the year-long follow-up, all maintained a clinically meaningful improvement in daily functioning, with one-third reaching near-complete symptom control. The strongest effects were seen in those who had not previously received biologic therapies.

Describing the results, trial investigator Tuan Vu said the data from biologic-naïve patients were “particularly striking,” adding that their responses were “most comparable to the patient populations in trials of standard-of-care biologics.”