A faster, simpler, cheaper cancer cell therapy is about to be tested in humans

In a long-awaited study, patients in Australia will soon receive an IV infusion designed to transform their own immune cells into swarms of cancer-fighting drones.

The trial, announced on Tuesday by Interius Biotherapeutics, will be the first to test what’s known technically as in vivo CAR-T therapy. Researchers have long hoped the approach could provide a potentially cheaper, safer, and more scalable version of the cell therapies that are curative for some blood cancer patients but remain out of reach for many. 

Interius received regulatory clearance on June 28 and will dose up to 30 patients, beginning  in the fall. It beat out several competitors, including one with over $1 billion in funding, to the first-in-human trial.  

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