| Meet the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Christian Capitini Professor and Chief of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Transplant and Cellular Therapy |
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Research area Development of cell-based immunotherapies, including natural killer (NK) cells and CAR T cells, for the treatment of pediatric solid tumors like neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma. The lab also develops alternatively activated macrophages for complications of bone marrow transplant, including graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) and acute radiation syndrome.
What excites you about your work?
“One of our areas of focus for IP has been in cell and gene therapy related to CAR T cells, and we’re in the process now of translating one of these assets for a first-in-human clinical trial. The School of Medicine and Public Health just announced a strategic collaboration with Cellares, a research contract and development manufacturing organization (CDMO), to automate the manufacturing of a CRISPR-edited GD2 CAR-T investigational therapy, using a device that can make these cells in multiplex fashion for the first time. I’m really excited about it. Now, we control the drug development process from beginning to end.”
What do you hope to achieve?
“The excitement of this kind of technology—for the first time, a university can be in the drug making business—is the fact that cells from our body are being synthetically engineered and designated as drugs by the FDA, and now, it’s not about pills or infusions; it’s about personalized medicine—weaponizing a patient’s immune system against cancer or other diseases. There’s an opportunity for commercialization, innovation and to offer unique therapies that make us a destination medical center. You only can get it here. When CAR T first came out, it came out of universities and got licensed by companies, and we got exposed to it through multicenter studies, but it will be transformative if something gets made here.”
WARF is tremendously excited for the progress Dr. Capitini and his collaborators have made. In the very near future we should see his work in the clinic, treating patients in a first-in-human trial.
– Andy DeTienne, WARF, Director of Licensing
Want to learn more?
Andy DeTienne, [email protected], 608.960.9857