TILs are once step closer to CAR-T's glory

Iovance Biotherapeutics got welcome news from the FDA. An ongoing clinical trial can be used to seek regulatory approval for a bespoke cell therapy to treat women with advanced cervical cancer, the biotech said yesterday.

The Iovance treatment is custom-built around immune cells called tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, or TILs. They are different from the more well-known and personalized T cell therapies called CAR-Ts that are approved to treat certain types of blood cancers.

At the ASCO meeting in June, Iovance reported deep and durable tumor responses from a mid-stage clinical trial. Iovance suggested enrolling more cervical cancer patients into the study to collect enough data to seek approval. The FDA agreed, which means Iovance could be ready to file in the second half of 2020.