Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Advanced Therapy Investigational Medicinal Products (ATIMPs) continue to undergo development to revolutionise treatments for incurable diseases across a large geographical footprint. NA-ATTC partner, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, recently delivered a novel genetically modified T-cell therapy to a patient with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
The Adaptimmune-Sponsored clinical trial is a commercial Phase I open-label clinical trial evaluating the safety and anti-tumour activity of autologous T-cells expressing enhanced T Cell Receptor (TCRs) specific for alpha-fetoprotein in HLA-A2 positive subjects with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Patient’s own T cells are harvested and modified by the manufacturer (Adaptimmune) before being reinfused as a T cell therapy.
In December 2020, Prof Jeff Evans of the University of Glasgow and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and his team at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre and at the Bone Marrow Transplant unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital treated the first patient in Scotland (the second in the UK) with Adaptimmune’s investigational modified T-cell therapy, ADP-A2AFP which targets alpha-fetoprotein in subjects with primary liver cancer.
