Top Companies in CAR NK-cell Therapy 2023

One of the most promising approaches in cellular therapies is immunotherapies using engineered T cells or natural killer (NK) cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). Will CAR-NK cell therapies overshadow traditional CAR-T options for the treatment of some cancers?

As of April 2023, more than 50 studies have been launched to investigate the potential of CAR-NK cell therapy.

While CAR T-cell therapy is more well-known and studied, there are challenges to the manufacturing of CAR T that does not exist with CAR-NK. This may prove to be a game-changer for blood cancer patients who do not have the time to wait for a CAR T-cell donor or for their own cells to be engineered for treatment.

Researchers have tried to modify natural killer (NK) cells with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) to increase potential to bind and destroy cancer cells, known as NK cell therapy. Here we describe the differences between CAR T cell therapies and CAR NK cell therapies to consider when developing cancer treatments for patients.

What is CAR-NK? 

NK cells are a part of the innate immune system and are the first line of defense against foreign infections and cancer cells. Their primary role is surveillance, early detection of foreign cells and initial immune system activity. By engineering NK cells with a CAR receptor, they become CAR NK cell therapies.

CAR NK-cell Therapy Companies

Below is a list of CAR-NK therapy companies involved with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-NK) cell technologies.

Some of the companies are developing CAR-NK therapies in-house, while others have invested in, acquired, or partnered with companies developing CAR-NK therapies.

1. Fate Therapeutics

   CAR-NK Technology: iPSC-derived CAR-NK cells Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Fate Therapeutics is a leader in developing off-the-shelf CAR-NK cell therapies for cancer. Their products are designed to be more effective and safer than traditional CAR-T cell therapies. They are currently conducting clinical trials for their lead product, FT516, which targets CD19-positive malignancies. Country: United States City/State: San Diego, California Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://www.fatetherapeutics.com/programs/car-nk-cell-therapy/ Company Website: https://www.fatetherapeutics.com/

2. Nkarta Therapeutics

   CAR-NK Technology: NK+ platform, which combines CAR and NK cell technologies Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Nkarta Therapeutics is focused on developing next-generation CAR-NK cell therapies for cancer. They are currently developing a portfolio of products, including NKX101, which targets CD19-positive malignancies, and NKX019, which targets solid tumors. Country: United States City/State: South San Francisco, California Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://www.nkartatx.com/our-pipeline/ Company Website: https://www.nkartatx.com/

3. Allogene Therapeutics

   CAR-NK Technology: AlloCAR NK platform, which uses allogeneic CAR-NK cells Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Allogene Therapeutics is developing off-the-shelf CAR-T and CAR-NK cell therapies for cancer. They are currently conducting clinical trials for their lead product, ALLO-501, which targets CD19-positive malignancies. Country: United States City/State: South San Francisco, California Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://www.allogene.com/pipeline/ Company Website: https://www.allogene.com/

4. Celularity

   CAR-NK Technology: CYNK-001, placental-derived NK cells Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Celularity is focused on developing placental-derived CAR-NK cell therapies for cancer. They are currently conducting clinical trials for their lead product, CYNK-001, which targets acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma. Country: United States City/State: Florham Park, New Jersey Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://www.celularity.com/pipeline/ Company Website: https://www.celularity.com/

5. Dragonfly Therapeutics

   CAR-NK Technology: TriNKETs, a novel class of CAR-NK cells Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Dragonfly Therapeutics is developing TriNKETs, a novel class of CAR-NK cell therapies for cancer. Their lead product, DF1001, targets multiple myeloma and other hematological malignancies. Country: United States City/State: Cambridge, Massachusetts Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://dragonflytx.com/our-pipeline/ Company Website: https://dragonflytx.com/

6. NantKwest

   CAR-NK Technology: NK-92, an immortalized NK cell line Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and infectious diseases Description of CAR-NK Involvement: NantKest is developing CAR-NK cell therapies using the NK-92 cell line, which has been genetically modified to enhance its anti-tumor activity. Their lead product, NK-92/CD19, targets CD19-positive malignancies and is currently in clinical trials.

Country: United States City/State: Culver City, California Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://www.nantkwest.com/pipeline/ Company Website: https://www.nantkwest.com/

7. Ziopharm Oncology

   CAR-NK Technology: Sleeping Beauty platform for genetically modifying NK cells Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Ziopharm Oncology is developing CAR-NK cell therapies using their Sleeping Beauty platform for genetic modification of NK cells. Their lead product, CD19-specific CAR-NK cells, is currently in preclinical development. Country: United States City/State: Boston, Massachusetts Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://www.ziopharm.com/pipeline/ Company Website: https://www.ziopharm.com/

8. Cytovia Therapeutics

   CAR-NK Technology: Natural Killer Cells Expressing Chimeric Antigen Receptors (NKA CARs) Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Cytovia Therapeutics is focused on developing CAR-NK cell therapies using their NKA CAR technology. Their lead product, CYT-726, targets multiple myeloma and is currently in preclinical development. Country: United States City/State: New York, New York Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://www.cytoviatx.com/pipeline/ Company Website: https://www.cytoviatx.com/

9. Vycellix

   CAR-NK Technology: Hi-CAR, a high-efficiency CAR-NK platform Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Vycellix is developing CAR-NK cell therapies using their Hi-CAR platform, which is designed to enhance CAR-NK cell activity. Their lead product, VY-M, targets solid tumors and is currently in preclinical development. Country: United States City/State: Baltimore, Maryland Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://vycellix.com/pipeline/ Company Website: https://vycellix.com/

10. Kiadis Pharma

    CAR-NK Technology: K-NK cells, a proprietary NK cell platform Disease Targets: Various solid tumors and hematological malignancies Description of CAR-NK Involvement: Kiadis Pharma is developing off-the-shelf CAR-T and CAR-NK cell therapies using their K-NK cell platform. Their lead product, K-NK002, targets acute myeloid leukemia and is currently in clinical trials. Country: The Netherlands City/State: Amsterdam Link to CAR-NK Programs: https://www.kiadis.com/pipeline/ Company Website: https://www.kiadis.com/

Note: The ranking of these companies is not based on any specific criteria and is not intended to imply superiority or inferiority of any kind.