Allogene Therapeutics has begun the first pivotal test of an “off-the-shelf” cell therapy for cancer.
The biotechnology company, which has been at the forefront of a push in recent years to develop such treatments, known as allogeneic therapies and derived from donor cells, announced the start of two trials on Thursday. One will test a blood cancer drug known as ALLO-501A, while the other will evaluate a regimen Allogene uses to prepare patients for treatment. Assuming positive results, Allogene expects the studies will support approval applications for both of them.
