UCLA research team awarded millions to bring new MS therapy to trial
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A research team at UCLA has been awarded a $7.49 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to advance an engineered, off-the-shelf natural killer T-cell (NKT) therapy for multiple sclerosis into its first human trials.
A prominent research team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has received a $7.49 million grant to advance a novel cell-based therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS) toward its first clinical trial. The state funding, officially awarded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), was specifically earmarked for an expert team led by Lili Yang, PhD, a professor and the primary researcher behind the Yang Engineering Immunity Lab at UCLA.
Engineering a Reset Button for the Immune System
The team’s innovative, off-the-shelf treatment candidate utilizes specialized immune cells — known as natural killer T-cells or NKT cells — which are engineered in the laboratory to halt both the abnormal autoimmune attacks and the chronic inflammation that drive MS progression. These specialized cells can help effectively reset the human immune system and are capable of remaining inside the patient's body for months to years. Consequently, the researchers hope a single dose could provide long-lasting disease control.
“With this approach, we hope to achieve a much more significant delay — or even a cure,” Yang stated in a university news story announcing the grant from CIRM, a dedicated state agency originally created by California voters to advance treatments for diseases with high unmet medical need. “If we can truly reset the immune system, we may be able to keep another serious attack at bay indefinitely,” Yang added. The new state funding will directly support the development of this off-the-shelf, or readily available, immunotherapy treatment for MS.
Addressing the Gaps in Current MS Care
Multiple Sclerosis occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue located in the brain and spinal cord, collectively known as the central nervous system (CNS). This aberrant targeting triggers severe inflammation that gradually degrades and damages underlying nerve cells. While current approved MS treatments can generally suppress the acute immune attacks that trigger temporary MS relapses, they do very little to stop the chronic, low-grade inflammation that continuously drives ongoing nerve damage and gradual disability worsening over time. Yang's lab aims to bridge this medical gap with their durable cell-based approach.
