Bristol Myers Squibb reports death in autoimmune CAR-T trial
The patient in a Phase 1 multiple sclerosis study developed septic pneumonia after receiving an immunosuppressant, the company said.
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One participant in a Phase 1 multiple sclerosis trial of Bristol Myers Squibb's investigational CAR-T therapy died, the company said on Friday in a press release. Multiple sclerosis is a neurological illness that leads to muscle weakness and severe tiredness.
In the trial, the patient had motor symptoms that standard autoimmune therapies could not control, according to Bristol. Clinicians then gave a potent immunosuppressant, but the patient developed septic pneumonia and died, the company said.
The death adds to safety events that have started to emerge in CAR-T autoimmune trials. In September, Bristol said it paused studies of the therapy after observing “transient and reversible inflammatory events during routine study surveillance”. Around the same time, Novartis said three patients in its CAR-T autoimmune studies died after their immune systems became overactive, according to STAT. Both disclosures came after questions from analysts and reporters.
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