The present invention relates to a novel chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) comprising an antigen-binding fragment which binds specifically to PSMA antigen, and a method of manufacturing high-quality CAR T cell products by transfection and/or transduction of T cells therewith, which allows to effectively treat tumors in vivo alone or in combination with pharmaceutical drugs, such chemotherapies, biopharmaceutical drugs, such as antibodies, or small-molecule drugs, such as protein kinase inhibitors.

The present invention relates to an isolated T cell receptor (TCR) specific for a MAGEA1-derived peptide and to a polypeptide comprising a functional portion of the TCR. Further implicated are a multivalent TCR complex, a nucleic acid encoding a TCR, a cell expressing the TCR and a pharmaceutical composition comprising the TCR. The invention also refers to the TCR for use as a medicament, in particular to the TCR for use in the treatment of cancer.

The present disclosure provides improved compositions for adoptive T cell therapies for treating, preventing, or ameliorating at least one symptom of a cancer, infectious disease, autoimmune disease, inflammatory disease, and immunodeficiency, or condition associated therewith.

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for enhancing immunity (or immune response). The compositions and methods are particularly useful for potentiating immune response of a lymphoid cell. The compositions and methods are also applicable for treating cancer and other diseases.

Embodiments of the disclosure encompass methods and compositions for producing engineered mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs). The disclosure concerns large-scale processes for producing MSCs that are engineered to have disruption of expression of one or more genes using CRISPR and also express at least one heterologous antigen receptor. Specific embodiments include particular parameters for the process.

Relapse in adoptive cell transfer of CAR-T cells is often the result of CAR-T cells disappearance. Disclosed herein a method for enhancing CAR-T cell therapy in a subject, comprising administering to a subject undergoing adoptive cell transfer of therapeutic CAR-T cells an Akt inhibitor in an amount effective to increase the persistence of the CAR-T cells. As a consequence, a subject treated with a combination of CAR-T cells and an Akt inhibitor is less likely to relapse. Therefore, also disclosed herein is a method for treating a subject, comprising adoptively transferring to the subject an effective amount of a composition comprising a CAR-T cell, and administering to the subject an Akt inhibitor in an amount effective to increase the persistence of the CAR-T cells.

Provided is an antibody, which is capable of specifically binding to a B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA). The provided BCMA antibody is capable of specifically binding to an extracellular fragment of the BCMA and has excellent affinity and specificity; and the antibody is a functional antibody and has the activity blocking binding of the BCMA with its ligand APRIL. Immune cells constructed based on the antibody has an excellent specific killing function for a BCMA-positive tumor cell.

Provided herein are target HLA-PEPTIDE antigens, e.g., HLA-PEPTIDE neoantigens and shared tumor HLA-PEPTIDE antigens, and antigen binding proteins (ABPs) that bind the target HLA-PEPTIDE antigens. Also disclosed are methods for identifying target HLA-PEPTIDE antigens as well as identifying one or more antigen binding proteins that bind a given HLA-PEPTIDE target antigen.

Embodiments of the disclosure encompass improvements on cell therapies by allowing the cells to be more effective for cancer treatment, including in a solid tumor microenvironment. In specific cases, the cells are modified to have reduced or inhibited levels of expression of T-Cell Death Associated Gene 8 (TDAG8), such as by CRISPR gene editing. In specific cases, the cells are further modified to express, for example, one or more engineered receptors, one or more cytokines, and optionally a suicide gene.

Methods and systems to reduce neurotoxicity associated with the treatment of CD19.sup.+ B-cell hyperproliferative disorders are disclosed. Neurotoxicity is reduced by the use of agents that protect CD19.sup.+ neurovascular pericytes and/or CD19.sup.+ vSMCs from attack by CD19-targeted therapy, and by modification of CD19-targeted therapy to avoid CD19.sup.+ pericytes and/or CD19.sup.+ vSMCs.