US FDA approves Adaptimmune's gene therapy Tecelra, the first engineered cell therapy for synovial sarcoma.

The US FDA has approved Adaptimmune's gene therapy Tecelra (afamitresgene autoleucel) as the first engineered cell therapy for treating a solid tumor cancer, specifically synovial sarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer. This marks the first new therapy for synovial sarcoma in over a decade. The therapy involves using a patient's own immune cells to attack cancer cells. Based on clinical trial results, it demonstrated an overall response rate of 43% with a 4.5% complete response rate. However, Tecelra can cause serious side effects such as cytokine release syndrome, neurotoxicity, and hypersensitivity reactions. Adaptimmune plans to establish at least six to ten authorized treatment centers in the US this year.

August 02, 2024
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