Benzinga | Nov 1, 2021 08:34AM EDT

Mustang Bio Awarded NIH Grant For MB-106 CD20-Targeted CAR T Cell Therapy For Treatment Of B-Cell Non-Hodgekin Lymphomas

Mustang Bio, Inc. ("Mustang") (NASDAQ:MBIO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on translating today's medical breakthroughs in cell and gene therapies into potential cures for hematologic cancers, solid tumors and rare genetic diseases, today announced that the company has been awarded a grant of approximately $2 million from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health ("NIH"). This two-year award will partially fund the Phase 1, Open Label, Multicenter Trial to Assess the Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of MB-106, a CD20-targeted, autologous CAR T cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas ("NHL") or chronic lymphocytic leukemia ("CLL").



In addition, the Office for Human Research Protections has approved Federalwide Assurance ("FWA") for Mustang's research. FWA is an assurance of compliance with the U.S. federal regulations for the protection of human subjects in research.

Manuel Litchman, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Mustang, said, "The NIH grant and FWA validate our scientific efforts as we continue to advance the development of MB-106. This grant will contribute to Mustang's evaluation of MB-106 in clinical trials with the hope to bring this therapeutic treatment to patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukemia."

Research is supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R44CA265616. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

About MB-106 (CD20-targeted CAR T Cell Therapy)

CD20 is a membrane-embedded surface molecule which plays a role in the differentiation of B-cells into plasma cells. The CAR T was developed by Mustang's research collaborator, Fred Hutch, in the laboratories of the late Oliver Press, M.D., Ph.D., and Brian Till, M.D., Associate Professor in the Clinical Research Division, and exclusively licensed to Mustang in 2017. MB-106 has been optimized as a third-generation CAR derived from a fully human antibody and is currently in a Phase 1/2 open-label, dose-escalation trial at Fred Hutch in patients with B-NHL and CLL. Additional information on the trial can be found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov using the identifier NCT03277729.