An informative open access article was published on the current status and perspective of CAR-T and CAR-NK cell therapy trials in Germany. As one can tell from the article, the number of clincial trials for CAR-T multiple myeloma therapies is still rather low. While other clincial trials target BCMA as target, CARAMBA targets the SLAMF7 antigen. If you are interested in the full article, please visit Nature’s Gene Therapy Journal.

The 5th digital myeloma forum was a great success.

On 9th July, the 5th edition of the Würzburg Myeloma Forum took place. With far more than 200 participants, mostly myeloma patients and their families as well as patient organisations, a large audience learned about the latest developments in research and treatment options for multiple myeloma. CARAMBA Coordinator Michael Hudecek, as one of the seven speakers, presented an update on the CAR-T Pipeline for multiple myeloma.  

The full news article (in German) is available at the UKW website.

CARAMBA AT THE 4th European CART Cell Meeting

As in the recent years, CARAMBA was well presented at the 4th European CART Cell Meeting which took place as a fully virtual event this year (10-12 February 2022). The meeting was jointly organised by EHA and EBMT and was co-chaired by the CARAMBA coordinator Prof. Michael Hudecek (Universitaetsklinikum Wuerzburg) and CARAMBA partner Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Yakoub-Agha (CHU de Lille). During various sessions over the days, CARAMBA partners shared their latest results and experiences. Prof. Fabio Ciceri (Ospedale San Raffaele) chaired the “New clinical data & Trial pipeline” session which included an update on CART trials performed at UKW Wuerzburg (among other CARAMBA). Prof. Fabio Ciceri and Prof. Halvard Bönig (DRK-BSD) spoke on aspects how to set-up and run a CART cell unit and academic production. Dr. Monica Casucci (Ospedale San Raffaele) and Prof. Zoltan Ivics (PEI) gave presentations on Gene transfer and genomic safety and Safety and efficiency models for CART. T-CURX was represented at the BioTech Forum. Dr. Julia Beckmann (UKW) shared her experience on multinational clinicial trials. CARAMBA was also represented at the poster session. The workshop was a great opportunity to present the achievements and results from CARAMBA and to exchange and discuss about ongoing and upcoming preclinical and clinical activities in Europe.

CARAMBA AT THE 3RD EUROPEAN CAR-T MEETING

After two successful European CAR-T meetings in 2019 and 2020, the CARAMBA project took again part in the 3rd European CAR-T workshop (4-6 February 2021), this time virtually due to the current Covid-19 situation. The meeting was jointly organised by EHA and EBMT and was co-chaired by the CARAMBA coordinator Prof. Michael Hudecek (Universitaetsklinikum Wuerzburg). Next to the coordinator Prof. Michael Hudecek, the project partners Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Yakoub-Agha (CHU de Lille), Monica Casucci (Ospedale San Raffaele) and Prof. Dr. Halvard Bönig (DRK-BSD) presented their latest research results. The workshop was a great opportunity to exchange and discuss about ongoing and upcoming preclinical and clinical activities in Europe. Watch the video to see Ananda Plate (Myeloma Patients Europe) discussing their role in the CARAMBA project.

CARAMBA consortium partner Myeloma Patients Europe (MPE) has issued an information sheet about the CARAMBA clinical trial which will take place in four centres of excellence in myeloma clinical care and research: University Hospital Würzburg (Germany), Ospedale San Raffaele (Italy), Universidad de Navarra (Spain) and the Centre Hospitalier Regional et Universitaire de Lille (France).

To inform patients and caregivers, the information sheet by Myeloma Patients Europe explains the main goals and characteristics of this clinical trial and possible CAR-T side effects to consider.

The Information sheet is also available in French, Italian, Spanish and German (Please see here).

It is the first contribution in a new publications series by Myeloma Patients Europe called “myeloma pipeline.” These documents aim at providing patients with information about myeloma treatments currently being investigated in clinical trials.