China’s latest Car-T bets revealed

Three new Chinese phase 1 study initiations, as revealed in the latest listings on the clinicaltrials.gov database, have illustrated three intriguing trends in the development of Car-T therapies.

One involves work in multiple myeloma to develop multispecific projects, in this case BCMA and GPRC5D, where there’s been separate interest in the T-cell engager arena; another is using a protein commonly targeted by lupus therapies for the development of anticancers. But perhaps the hottest current trend is in vivo Car-T, and here a new week has brought yet another clinical-stage entrant.

That in vivo Car-T is Suzhou Immunofoco’s IMV101, an anti-CD19 Car delivered using a lentivirus. At last year’s ASH conference IMV101 was featured in a preclinical poster, which claimed that it demonstrated high specificity of T-cell transduction and potent in vitro and in vivo antitumour activity, and the phase 1 study began shortly afterwards.

IMV101 thus joins Shenzhen Genocury’s JY232, Create’s MT-304, PersonGen’s LV009 and Legend’s LVIVO-TaVec200 among in vivo cell therapies that have recently entered clinical trials (though Create’s isn’t a Car-T therapy). The total number of clinical-stage in vivo Car-T projects now appears to stand at 17.

Multispecifics

Multiple myeloma therapy has for some time been turning towards multispecifics, and the latest to enter clinical trials is O&D’s O&D-001, an ex vivo Car-T therapy hitting BCMA and GPRC5D.

This particular dual-target approach has seen Johnson & Johnson advance ramantamig, Innovent advance IBI3003, and AbbVie take out an option on Simcere’s SIM0500. However, these are all T-cell engagers, and are technically trispecific on account of their CD3 targeting. Perhaps the most important anti-BCMA x GPRC5D Car-T therapy is Bristol Myers Squibb’s BMS-986453.

Recently disclosed first-in-human studies*

Note: *these projects were first listed on the clinicaltrials.gov database between 23 and 29 Jan 2026.

In lupus therapy a popular target is the B-cell survival protein BAFF, which separately has attracted a few companies to develop anticancer Car-Ts, including Pepromene with PBM-CT01.

They are now being joined by an unnamed Car-T therapy originated by Jiangsu Topcel-KH Pharmaceutical. The Chinese company appears to have one other oncology project in development, the anti-PD1 armoured anti-CD19 Car-T RD009, in addition to cell therapies for non-cancer indications.

Other interesting mechanistic approaches newly into human trials include Cogent’s small-molecule pan-HER2 inhibitor CGT4255. This is no ordinary anti-HER2 project, however, its AACR 2025 poster describing its ability to spare EGFR, and thus avoid EGFR-related toxicities, as well as to cross the blood-brain barrier.

Meanwhile, StoneWise is advancing the HPK1 inhibitor SWA1211, which appears to be its first clinical-stage asset. The industry pipeline of clinical HPK1 inhibitors is broad, including two molecules from BeOne (BGB-26808 and BGB-15025), and Nimbus’s NDI-101150. But Pfizer discontinued PF-07265028 in 2023.