A Phase 1 study of GB-5267 is now treating patients. The experimental ovarian cancer therapy was built by Generate Biomedicines together with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, which announced the first dose this week.
GB-5267 is an autologous, IL-18 armored CAR T-cell therapy built to overcome barriers that have limited cell therapies in solid tumors. It targets MUC16, an antigen over-expressed by more than 80% of ovarian tumors.
The design was engineered with AI to optimize T-cell function inside solid tumors, the companies said. It is also intended to avoid the pre-infusion chemotherapy that standard CAR T regimens require, sparing patients its side effects.
Generate and Roswell Park describe GB-5267 as the first next-generation cell therapy for ovarian cancer to enter clinical trials. Investigators are enrolling adults whose cancer progressed on platinum-based treatment, or failed to respond to it at all.
Ovarian cancer remains one of the hardest solid tumors to treat with engineered cells, largely because few surface targets are both specific and abundant. MUC16’s prevalence makes it an attractive anchor, though the same protein appears at lower levels in healthy tissue, a safety question the trial will probe.
Generate, based in Somerville, Massachusetts, has moved several AI-designed programs toward the clinic. Its asthma candidate drew attention in August when study data surfaced ahead of a medical conference.
