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Imugene Limited (ASX:IMU) has hit its first important milestone in 2025, dosing its first Australian patient with its allogenic CAR T-cell therapy Azer-cel treatment at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney earlier this week.
This dosage marks the start of Imugene’s Phase 1b trials, which are now mainly focusing on one of the most challenging and aggressive forms of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The idea, the biotechnology company has suggested several times through early testing, is that Azer-cel would offer an off-the-shelf alternative to traditional CAR T-cell therapies – most of which still need lengthy manufacturing that needs patients to share cells and can carry long treatment timelines and costs.
Perhaps most crucially, it could also expand accessibility for patients with limited options.
(Testing started in early November, as reported by HotCopper at the time.)
This spearhead into Aussie testing comes after Imugene collected “promising data” through its U.S.-based trials; three patients in State-side testing had zero signs of the cancer despite relapsing after other, similar treatments.
“[This is] a significant milestone for Imugene and for Australian patients battling this devastating disease,” Imugene’s CEO Leslie Chong declared today.
“The trial’s opening… reflects our commitment to accelerating innovative, off-the-shelf immunotherapies that have the potential to improve outcomes for Australian patients with relapsed or refractory Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is among the most common non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma subtypes. It impacts more than 80,000 people each calendar year.
The company will next expand its Aussie recruitment “across multiple sites.”
IMU shares last sold at 4.1 cents each in early Friday trade.
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