The therapy was developed at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. It targets two proteins, antigens CD19 and CD20, on the surface of cancer cells, and phase I trial results demonstrated that it is safe for use in patients with relapsed B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas, the college said in a statement. Within 28 days of undergoing the CAR T-cell therapy, 82% of patients had positive responses; six months later, more than half remained in remission.

"Immuno-oncology using T-cell treatments shows incredible promise for cancer patients," principal investigator Dr. Nirav Shah said in the statement. "This is a giant leap forward in personalized medicine."

The phase II trial will further establish the therapy's efficacy, according to the college.

Bioray Labs develops nonviral targeted CAR T therapy
Bioray Laboratories posted interim results from clinical trials of its nonviral programmed cell death 1 specific targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)...