Abstract 2914: iPSC-derived CAR-NK cell therapy: nominating clinical candidate clones through integrated multi-functional analysis

Abstract

Abstract CNTY-101 is an induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) derived Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) NK cell clinical candidate for the treatment of B-cell malignancies. It incorporates six gene edits. A CAR targeting CD19 mediates tumor cell engagement and killing, the homeostatic cytokine IL-15 improves functional persistence, and EGFR acts as a safety switch, providing an antibody target for elimination of the engineered cells, if ever necessary. Further edits are designed to reduce graft rejection due to alloreactivity, including disruption of beta-2-microglobulin (B2M) to prevent major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) surface expression, disruption of class II major histocompatibility complex transactivator (CIITA), and expression of HLA-E fused with B2M. Our data indicate that iPSC lines show significant functional variability dependent on the original somatic cell and donor used for reprogramming. Additional functional variability is induced when the iPSC are genetically edited and differentiated to NK cells. This complexity necessitates careful methodology for nominating clinical candidate clones with desirable functional attributes and presents an opportunity for future refinement. Here, we evaluate 28 clinical candidate clones for CNTY-101, integrating in-process data from genetic engineering, differentiation, and a battery of functional assays into a unified analysis framework. We find that the donor and the number of integrated transgene alleles (ex. monoallelic vs biallelic) have a large impact on clone function. In silico correction for donor and allele number reveals that transgene surface expression correlates with functions including short-term killing, serial-killing, and persistence. We show that IL-15 transgene expression, serial-killing, and persistence correlate along one functional axis, while CAR expression, short-term killing, and cytokine secretion correlate on a second functional axis. In addition, we identify biomarkers measured during the differentiation process that are correlated with functional performance, such as the level of CD94 surface expression and tumor killing. Finally, we discuss the application of functional multi-omics to candidate clone nomination for Century Therapeutics’ pipeline of future products. Citation Format: Matthew S. Hall, Ohad Manor, Liam Campion, Chiamin Bullaughey, Barry A. Morse, Buddha Gurung, Luis Borges. iPSC-derived CAR-NK cell therapy: nominating clinical candidate clones through integrated multi-functional analysis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 2914.