An off-the-shelf cell therapy shows early promise against lupus

Osprey Lane Bio said Saturday that its donor-derived cell therapy put nine of eleven lupus patients into drug-free remission in an early study, results that approach those seen with therapies built individually from each patient's own cells.

Personalized cell therapies take weeks to manufacture and cost several hundred thousand dollars. A product made in batches from healthy donors could be stored and given on demand.

The trade-off has been durability, because the recipient's immune system tends to reject donor cells quickly. Osprey Lane's cells were detectable for about four weeks, which the company argues is long enough to eliminate the B cells that drive the disease.

Two patients developed mild cytokine release syndrome. None had neurological side effects. Longer follow-up will show whether the remissions last.