Nkarta Presents NKX019 Clinical Data at the European Hematology Association 2023 Congress and 17th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma

• 7 of 10 r/r NHL patients achieved complete response (70% CR rate) following treatment with NKX019 monotherapy at 1 billion and 1.5 billion CAR NK cells per dose in the Phase 1 dose escalation study
• Data demonstrate potential for redosing of allogeneic CD19 CAR NK to deepen response or restore response post-relapse
  
  • Majority of patients achieved CR after a single cycle of NKX019
• Early safety data support potential of allogeneic CD19 CAR NK to be administered on outpatient basis
  • No neurotoxicity / ICANS, graft versus host disease (GvHD), or > Gr3 cytokine release syndrome (CRS)
  • 40% of eligible patients received NKX019 in the outpatient setting after first cycle
    

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., June 10, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nkarta, Inc. (Nasdaq: NKTX), a biopharmaceutical company developing engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies, today announced presentations highlighting preliminary data based on a November 2022 data cut-off from its Phase 1 dose escalation clinical trial of NKX019 at two scientific conferences: the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2023 Hybrid Congress and the 17^th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (17-ICML). NKX019 is an allogeneic, off-the-shelf NK cell therapy candidate derived from healthy donors and engineered to target CD19.

Seven of ten patients with relapsed/ refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) treated at the higher dose levels showed a complete response (70% CR), including two patients with aggressive large B cell lymphoma (LBCL) as well as other difficult histologies, including mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), high-risk follicular lymphoma (FL) and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL). No dose limiting toxicity, neurotoxicity / ICANS, graft versus host disease (GvHD), or >Grade 3 cytokine release syndrome (CRS) were observed in the study.

“Autologous CAR-T cell therapies set a standard for responses in patients with relapsed/ refractory B-cell malignancies. However, potential for toxicity and logistic challenges have limited access to these therapies, and many patients could still benefit from a safe, on-demand treatment,” said Michael Dickinson, M.D., Lead, Aggressive Lymphoma disease group, Clinical Haematology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital, and investigator in the NKX019 trial. “In this early evaluation of an allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapy candidate, NKX019 had a manageable safety profile with encouraging anti-tumor activity as well as the option for retreatment after relapse. Based on these early data, NKX019 merits further study as a potential outpatient cell therapy approach.”