Beam Therapeutics Names First CAR-T Base Editing Development Candidate for the Treatment of T-ALL and Presents New Data at SITC 2020

BEAM-201, an Off the Shelf Allogeneic CD7-Targeting CAR-T, Named as Development Candidate for Treatment of T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

First Cell Therapy Featuring Simultaneous Edits to Four Genes; Demonstrates 96-99% On-target Editing at Clinical Scale and In Vivo Proof of Concept of Tumor Clearance

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beam Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAM), a biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines through base editing, today announced that the company will advance BEAM-201, a potent and specific anti-CD7, multiplex edited, allogeneic CAR-T therapy, as a development candidate for the treatment of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Preclinical data on BEAM-201 are being presented in a poster session during the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s 35th Anniversary Annual Meeting & Pre-Conference Programs (SITC 2020), and demonstrate potent, dose-dependent tumor control in vitro and in an in vivo xenograft model.

“BEAM-201 is the third development candidate from our pipeline of base editing programs named this year, an incredible milestone for our company and a testament to the strength of our platform and the dedication of our team,” said Giuseppe Ciaramella, Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer of Beam. “BEAM-201 is a highly differentiated editing program designed to provide an ‘off-the-shelf’ CD7-targeting CAR-T cell therapy that may enable a one-time treatment option for patients with T-ALL. To our knowledge, BEAM-201 is the first cell therapy featuring simultaneous edits to four genes. The preclinical data being presented at SITC 2020 demonstrate 96-99% editing efficiencies across four targets without genomic rearrangements, as well as strong in vivo proof of concept of tumor clearance in a xenograft model. We are actively advancing BEAM-201 to assess its potential impact in treating people living with this devastating disease.”

BEAM-201 is a potent and specific anti-CD7, multiplex edited, allogeneic CAR-T development candidate for the treatment of relapsed/refractory T-ALL, a severe disease affecting children and adults with a five-year overall survival of less than 25%. BEAM-201 is produced using a GMP-compliant, clinical-scale process in which T cells derived from healthy donors are simultaneously base edited at four genomic loci then transduced with a lentivirus coding for an anti-CD7 CAR. The resulting cells are universally-compatible, allogeneic (“off the shelf”) CD7-targeting CAR-T cells resistant to both fratricide and immunosuppression.