As Adicet Bio Inc. pushed forward on the path to a potentially pivotal clinical trial, one thing was clear to President and CEOAdicet , which late last year had 87 employees, has hired 44 people since the start of this year as the company tries to prove that its cancer cell therapy not only works but has a durable response in patients.
In June, when Adicet inked the deal for the additional square footage, it had eight patients who could be evaluated and 75% of those had had complete responses, when all detectable cancer is gone. When data came back from the second and third doses of the drug, which is partnered with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. , 80% of patients had reached that point.
About 80,000 people a year in the United States are diagnosed with NHL. It is treated today with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, bone marrow transplants or other therapies, including other emerging cell therapies. Gamma-delta cells may be the under-appreciated instrument in the fast-moving world of cell therapy development, but while they aren't dangerous, their efficacy and durability isn't proved. But Schor said Adicet is progressing toward that goal.