Autolus Therapeutics Announces Positive CHMP Opinion for Obecabtagene Autoleucel for Adult Patients (age 26 and older) with Relapsed or Refractory B-Cell Precursor Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (R/R B-ALL)

Core Viewpoint - Autolus Therapeutics plc has received a positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for the approval of its therapy, obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel), for treating adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia [1][6]. Company Overview - Autolus Therapeutics plc is an early commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation T cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases [9]. - The company has a pipeline of product candidates and has received FDA approval and MHRA authorization for obe-cel [9]. Product Details - Obe-cel is an autologous CD19 CAR T cell therapy designed to target B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia [4]. - The therapy has shown a Complete Response/Complete Response with Incomplete Hematological Recovery (CR/CRi) rate of 76.6% in the pivotal cohort of the FELIX study [2]. - The median response duration for patients treated with obe-cel was 21.2 months, with median event-free survival (EFS) of 11.9 months [2]. Clinical Study Insights - The CHMP recommendation was based on the results of the FELIX study, which was an open-label, multi-center, single-arm study involving adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia [2][10]. - The study enrolled over 100 patients across 30 leading academic and non-academic centers in the U.S., U.K., and Europe [10]. Safety Profile - The most common non-laboratory Grade 3 or higher adverse reactions included unspecified infections (32%), febrile neutropenia (24%), and bacterial infectious disorders (11%) [3]. - Cytokine release syndrome occurred in 68.5% of patients, with severe cases in 2.4% [3]. Market Context - Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an aggressive blood cancer with approximately 6,000 new cases diagnosed annually in Europe [5]. - Conventional treatments for adult B-ALL have a median overall survival of only eight months, highlighting the need for effective therapies like obe-cel [5]. Regulatory Status - The positive CHMP opinion serves as a scientific recommendation for marketing authorization, with the European Commission expected to make a final decision within approximately two months [6][8]. - Obe-cel has already received FDA approval in November 2024 and MHRA conditional marketing authorization in April 2025 [4][6].