The CAR-T Climb

Mike Hennessy Jr., Chairman and CEO, MJH Life Sciences

A common theme across our emerging pharma leaders profiles in the August issue of Pharmaceutical Executive are various efforts to target serious disease at its root source. Doing so allows for greater intervention at the mechanistic level to potentially modify disease through next-generation therapies. Today, a major avenue for such pursuits remains new advances in precision medicine—and reaching more patients with these treatments—which one EPL story particularly touches on.

Of course, a leading approach under the precision medicine umbrella is the development of CAR-T therapies for cancer. Such products, as you know, have been a reality for several years, with multiple proven successes in the market. Today, the CAR-T field is generating significant buzz for its continued market penetration and appeal globally—and the promise of new and more effective targeting methods being studied in the clinic. In fact, recent projections by Nova One Advisor predict the global CAR-T cell therapy market will reach $127.53 billion by 2033.

That leads us to a special feature this month on the work biotech firm Luminary Therapeutics, under founder and CEO Jeff Liter, is doing in CAR-T—notably the company’s quest to grab a foothold in the ripe but appealing market in Saudi Arabia for CAR-T investment.

I encourage you to explore the piece and Liter’s insights, which I think offer a unique lens—and a nice snapshot example—of the opportunities and challenges associated with CAR-T therapy expansion and access. The chance for biopharma players, globally, to build on those “tiny promises, embers of hope for solid tumors,” as Liter notes, for instance.

Thanks for reading.

Mike Hennessy Jr. is Chairman and CEO of MJH Life Sciences