Developing CAR T-cell therapy for HIV

Marco Alessandrini, PhD, Antion Biosciences SA, Geneva, Switzerland, discusses the development of an allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for HIV. Antion’s novel miCAR platform was used to generate a bimodal gene construct that expressed both an HIV-specific CAR with a truncated CD4 receptor and a microRNA-based gene silencing cassette to silence CCR5, the T-cell receptor and inhibitory receptors, in order to enhance CAR T-cell persistence. This work highlights the potential to develop a scalable, cost-effective platform for creating off-the-shelf, universally accessible CAR-T therapy for HIV. This interview took place during the American Society for Cell & Gene Therapy 24th Annual Meeting 2021.