Novartis has temporarily halted eight clinical trials of an experimental cell therapy for autoimmune and neurological diseases following three serious immune reactions, and Bristol Myers Squibb has paused enrollment in a parallel program. The setback lands on one of the most closely watched ideas in medicine: the attempt to use cancer cell therapy to reset a misfiring immune system.
Novartis confirmed the halt covering rapcabtagene autoleucel, an autologous CD19-directed CAR T therapy known as rap-cel or YTB323. The company said the pause would allow a fuller review of evolving clinical and safety data across the program after three serious cases of immune effector cell-associated hemophagocytic syndrome, or IEC-HS.
