Engineered immune effector cells for cancer immunotherapy that are resistant to fratricide by virtue of having genetically modified surface antigens

Abstract

This disclosure provides a system for preventing or reducing side effects in a patent undergoing immunotherapy to remove diseased cells that express a target antigen: for example, by CAR T cell therapy. Side effects can ensue from concurrent depletion of hematopoietic cells bearing the same target antigen. A population of engineered hematopoietic cells is prepared by obtaining healthy hematopoietic cells from the patient or a third party donor, and using them to produce engineered hematopoietic cells. The engineered cells either do not express the target antigen, express it at a lower density, or express it in a modified form. The engineered hematopoietic cells are formulated for administration to the patient, whereupon they reconstitute hematopoietic cell function, thereby preventing or reducing the side effects.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.