Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by autoantibodies that interfere with signaling at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), leading to potentially life-threatening muscle weakness. The majority of patients with MG have autoantibodies known to be pathogenic based on their interference with proteins in the NMJ, of which the majority target AChR. Generalized MG affects approximately 85% of the between 50,000 and 80,000 estimated MG patients in the United States. Symptoms of gMG include profound muscle weakness throughout the body, disabling fatigue, shortness of breath due to respiratory muscle weakness and risk for episodes of respiratory failure. Standard of care therapies include cholinesterase inhibitors, steroids, immunomodulators, and biologics, which often provide modest clinical effect and require chronic administration, increasing the risk of serious long-term side effects.
About the Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial of CABA-201 in gMG
The Phase 1/2 clinical trial will be an open-label study of CABA-201 in subjects with gMG across two parallel cohorts. The first cohort will include six patients with AChR antibody-positive gMG, and the second will include six patients with AChR antibody-negative gMG. Participants will receive a one-time infusion of CABA-201, using the same dose being used in the lupus, myositis and systemic sclerosis clinical trials of CABA-201, 1 x 106 cells/kg, preceded by a standard preconditioning regimen of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide. Key inclusion criteria include patients between ages 18 and 70 (inclusive), a diagnosis of gMG, and disease activity despite standard of care therapies. Key exclusion criteria include myasthenia gravis with only ocular manifestations, an active or untreated thymoma, and treatment with a B cell depleting agent within six months. As the fourth trial within Cabaletta’s CARTA (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells for Autoimmunity) strategy, this study is intended to evaluate the potential ability of CABA-201 to transiently, but completely, eliminate B cells throughout the body.
About Cabaletta Bio
Cabaletta Bio (Nasdaq: CABA) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of engineered T cell therapies that have the potential to provide a deep and durable, perhaps curative, treatment for patients with autoimmune diseases. The CABA™ platform encompasses two strategies: the CARTA (chimeric antigen receptor T cells for autoimmunity) strategy, with CABA-201, a 4-1BB-containing fully human CD19-CAR T, as the lead product candidate being evaluated in systemic lupus erythematosus, myositis, systemic sclerosis and generalized myasthenia gravis, and the CAART (chimeric autoantibody receptor T cells) strategy, with multiple clinical-stage candidates, including DSG3-CAART for mucosal pemphigus vulgaris and MuSK-CAART for MuSK myasthenia gravis. The expanding CABA™ platform is designed to develop potentially curative therapies that offer deep and durable responses for patients with a broad range of autoimmune diseases. Cabaletta Bio’s headquarters and labs are located in Philadelphia, PA.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” of Cabaletta Bio within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including without limitation, express or implied statements regarding its expectations regarding: Cabaletta’s ability to grow its autoimmune-focused pipeline; the ability to capitalize on and potential benefits resulting from published third-party academic clinical data; the anticipated market opportunities for CABA-201 in gMG patients; the Company’s business plans and objectives; Cabaletta’s expectations around the potential success and therapeutic benefits of CABA-201, including its belief in the potential for CABA-201 to provide a deep and durable, perhaps curative, outcome with a single dose in patients with gMG; the Cabaletta clinical operations team’s ability to execute the gMG program based on experience with MG sites in the Company’s legacy CAART platform; the Company’s plans to initiate and progress separate Phase 1/2 clinical trials of CABA-201 in subjects with gMG, SSc, SLE and myositis; the Company’s planned initial clinical data read-out from the CABA-201 program in the first half of 2024; and Cabaletta’s ability to enroll the requisite number of patients and dose each dosing cohort in the intended manner in its Phase 1/2 clinical trials of CABA-201.
