CAR-T trial deaths do not deter lupus patients hoping for a cure
XLV•Lupus patients are seeking experimental CAR-T therapies despite four deaths in autoimmune disease trials this year. About 150 trials are testing CAR-T for lupus, while Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb have paused trials or enrollment after deaths and other safety events.
1. Patients weigh risks
Lupus patients are lining up for experimental CAR-T treatments despite four deaths this year in clinical trials for autoimmune diseases. Doctors say patients are drawn by accounts of people with advanced disease reaching remission and stopping medication. About 150 trials are testing CAR-T for lupus.
2. Severe side effects
Brittan Kopittke, who has lupus, entered a CAR-T trial in June 2024 after her disease progressed despite multiple medicines. She developed cytokine release syndrome and a life-threatening neurological complication that left her unresponsive for three days. Now some two years into remission, she says she would undergo the treatment again, while warning patients about its risks.
3. Trials paused
Novartis halted eight trials of its experimental CAR-T therapy after three patients died from a rare hyperinflammatory complication. Bristol Myers Squibb paused enrollment in its autoimmune trials after temporary inflammatory events and reported the death of a multiple sclerosis patient; it said it had identified the cause of the safety issue and hopes to resume testing in 2027. Researchers have raised questions about the Novartis deaths, while some doctors say inflammatory events in other programs have been reversible with treatment.
