Dec. 12 Quick Takes: Setbacks at ASH for Adicet and Lava 

A pair of setbacks at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) conference from Adicet Bio Inc. (NASDAQ:ACET) and Lava Therapeutics N.V. (NASDAQ:LVTX) suggest the durability question for γδ T cell therapies hasn’t been resolved, and may span multiple modalities involving the cell type. Though Adicet’s allogeneic γδ T cell therapy ADI-001 led to impressive response rates in a Phase I study, including a 100% complete response rate in the five patients who previously relapsed on prior CAR T cell therapy for large B cell lymphoma, only two of nine treated patients with at least six months of follow up continued in complete response through six months. In a separate Phase I study, LAVA-051, a bispecific antibody from Lava targeting a γδ T cell receptor chain and the CD1d tumor antigen expressed on hematological malignancies, two of the 12 heavily pretreated patients remain on treatment five months into the study.

ASH data from Magenta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:MGTA) sent the biotech’s shares up 56% to $1.79 in after-hours trading on Monday on the promise of a less toxic, targeted conditioning agent for stem cell transplants to expand the eligible transplant population. The company said the preliminary Phase I/II data in 15 patients show MGTA-117, an antibody-drug conjugate that binds CD117 on both myeloid cancer cells and healthy bone marrow cells, binds and depletes target cells, clears the body quickly and has a favorable tolerability profile, adding that in 1H23 it hopes to transition to patients with transplant-eligible relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Two of the 11 transplant-ineligible patients who completed the dose escalation review period became eligible for stem cell transplant after a single dose of MGTA-117...