Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. has announced about a recent report published in Med that describes the first use of KYV-101, a fully human anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell product candidate, in two patients suffering from progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) as part of a named patient program for critically ill patients after both patients failed to respond to conventional therapies.

"We are very pleased about offering this potentially paradigm-shifting treatment opportunity to patients that have exhausted other medical recourses," said Christoph Heesen, MD, Professor for clinical and rehabilitative MS research at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany, and senior co-author.

"Emerging findings indicating that this approach may affect disease biology in the central nervous system are promising, as preventing disease progression remains one of the most difficult challenges in MS therapy," he added.

"Exploring the safety profile of CAR T administration in this population and hopefully establishing that it compares favorably to hematopoietic stem cell transplant may bring the cell therapy approach to a larger number of patients in need," said Nicolaus Kröger, MD, Professor of Medicine and Medical director, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany, and senior co-author.

"If safe administration can be replicated in other patients and efficacy be formally established in clinical trials, this may bring a relevant therapeutic option to patients with MS," stated Kröger.

"We are committed to transforming the standard of treatment for patients living with multiple sclerosis," said Peter Maag, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Kyverna.

"The pioneering work done with KYV-101 by medical teams in Hamburg and in our trials in the U.S. helps build the data backbone needed to further advance our knowledge and hopefully accelerate the development of CAR T-cell therapies in autoimmune diseases," commented Maag.

CAR T-cell therapy involves modifying a patient's T cells to recognize and remove B cells in the patient's body. CD19 CAR T-cell therapy specifically targets CD19, a protein expressed on the surface of B cells, which are involved in various types of autoimmune diseases.