Mustang Bio Announces $9.28 Million Grant to Fund Phase 1 Trial of CAR T Therapy MB-103

Mustang Bio (NASDAQ:MBIO) has announced a US$9.28 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to fund an ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of MB-103 to treat HER2-positive breast cancer with brain metastases.

As quoted in the press release:

City of Hope patents covering the HER2 CAR were licensed to Mustang Bio in 2017.

The City of Hope research team led by Saul Priceman, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, along with the clinical lead Jana Portnow, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, will use the funds to support the Phase 1 trial. The trial is expected to enroll 21 patients at City of Hope. The trial’s primary objective is to determine the safety and recommended Phase 2 dosing of intraventricular delivery of HER2-specific CAR T cells. Secondary objectives include assessing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood for HER2-CAR T cell persistence and endogenous immune system activation, describing changes in cytokine levels in the CSF and peripheral blood and describing changes in circulating tumor cells in the CSF.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 1 in 5 patients with breast cancer have HER2-positive cancer cells. Nearly half of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer ultimately develop brain metastases.

Click here to read the full press release.