Atara Biotherapeutics Releases Published Clinical Results

On Monday (November 19), Atara Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ATRA) announced its clinical trial results were published in a medical journal, JCI Insight.

The results were for a Phase 1 clinical study of ATA190, an autologous EBV-specific T-cell immunotherapy in development for multiple sclerosis (MS). The trial results were positive and confirmed results from preclinical research.

Nearly all of the patients in the trial had some type of improvement with their disease. Seven patients out of 10 that received the full course therapy showed improvement, with six showing improvement on both symptomatic and objective neurological improvements, according to the study.

The drug was reactive against target EBV antigens and other mechanistic markers from T cell function. Six patients in the study had strong EBV reactivity, while four with a weak EBV reactivity showed improvement. One of the ten patients experienced neurological deterioration during the study.

“Findings from the study support growing evidence that targeting EBV-positive B cells is a potential novel treatment modality for MS and merit additional investigation,” Michael Pender, coordinator of QIMR Berghofer Centre for immunotherapy and vaccine development, said in the press release. Atara’s T-cell immunotherapy technology was pioneered at the centre and was a collaborator for this trial. The other collaborator in the trial was the University of Queensland.

Patients were monitored for 27 weeks to assess safety and efficacy of the drug. Expanded disability status scale score (EDSS), fatigue, cognitive and neurological assessments were monitored during the trial. MRIs and cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulin G production was also analyzed.

ATA190 was well-tolerated and no severe side effects were observed in the study. For those seven patients which had improvement, it was seen two to 14 weeks after the first drug infusion. Patients that had improved symptoms experienced a reduction in fatigue, which is one of the most frequent and disabling symptoms of the disease.

The trial was open-label and uncontrolled, meaning patients knew what the treatment was and all participants were taking the treatment. From the ten patients, half had been previously diagnosed with primary MS and the other half with secondary progressive MS.

Before entering this trial, patients had a mean of 10.1 years of progressive neurological deterioration.

The study was funded by MS Queensland, MS Research Australia, Perpetual Trustee Company and donations.

MS is a chronic neurological autoimmune disease which affects over two million people globally. Progressive MS (PMS) is a severe form which leaves patients physically disabled over time. Most treatments available to MS patients reduces flares of relapsing-remitting MS, but aren’t effective at slowing or reversing disabilities.

Atara’s main focus is a leading allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy company developing treatments for cancer, autoimmune and viral diseases. Tab-cel is the company’s most advanced drug in Phase 3 development for Epstein-Barr, which is a virus associated with post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.

Investor takeaway

Over the trading period on Monday, Atara’s stock price decreased nearly five percent to US$35.43.

The most recent note to investors, according to TipRanks, was released on November 7, by Jefferies analyst Maury Raycroft. Raycroft reiterated a “Buy” target for the company with a US$44 price target.

Keen investors interested in Atara can follow the company’s news for other drugs in its pipeline. ATA188 is also in a Phase 1 trial as an off-the-shelf allogeneic drug for progressive MS. The trial is taking place in the US and Australia.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle Lakusta, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.