Cabaletta Bio Announces Presentation of Data Supporting MuSK-CAART Development for the Treatment of the MuSK form of Myasthenia Gravis at the AAN 2020 Science Highlights Virtual Platform

In vivo preclinical data show that Chimeric AutoAntibody Receptor (CAAR) T cells were able to specifically recognize and eliminate anti-MuSK antibody-expressing B cells while sparing control B cells

PHILADELPHIA, May 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cabaletta Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: CABA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of engineered T cell therapies for patients with B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases, today announced that in vivo data demonstrating specific engagement and elimination of anti-muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) antibody-expressing target cells by Chimeric AutoAntibody Receptor (CAAR) T cells was presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2020 Science Highlights Virtual Platform by the laboratory of Aimee Payne, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Dermatology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board and co-founder at Cabaletta Bio. The research was performed in collaboration with Kevin O’Connor, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurology and Immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine and an internationally recognized expert in the field of B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases, including myasthenia gravis, and was sponsored, in part, by Cabaletta Bio. Cabaletta Bio has exclusively licensed the MuSK CAAR T cell technology from and has developed the therapy in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania.

“This in vivo data in MuSK-associated myasthenia gravis (MuSK MG), a prototypical B cell-mediated autoimmune disease, is an important step to initiating a comprehensive IND-enabling program and supports the in vitro data previously presented at the American Neurological Association (ANA) Annual Meeting in late 2019,” said Aimee Payne, M.D., Ph.D. “Patients who suffer from MuSK MG have very limited therapeutic options, primarily generalized immunosuppressants, which typically require chronic administration, and can cause significant side effects. There is a need for a therapy that specifically targets only the B cells causing the disease, while leaving normal B cells unaffected in patients suffering from MuSK MG.”