London Startup to Trial Drug Preventing Cancer Therapy Side-Effect

The Breakthrough in Cancer Immunotherapy

A London-based startup, Poolbeg Pharma, is about to trial a drug at six NHS hospitals that could stop people on cancer immunotherapy getting a life-threatening side-effect.

Understanding Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS)

Poolbeg Pharma said its oral drug POLB 001 could make treatment for blood cancer safer by preventing cytokine release syndrome (CRS), when the immune system goes into overdrive and attacks the body, leading to organ damage.

The Financial Impact of CRS

The drug could also save the NHS and other health systems millions of pounds because those being treated do not have to be supervised in centralised specialist cancer centres in case they succumb to a cytokine storm.

• About 70% of people who receive cancer immunotherapies develop CRS.
• Normally, patients have to stay in hospital for two to three weeks in case they develop CRS.

The Impact on Cancer Treatment

Instead, care can take place in community hospitals, reducing the cost per patient and allowing more patients to be treated.

The drug is about to be tested on 30 people who will be treated with Johnson & Johnson’s blood cancer medication teclistamab (sold as Tecvayli), at six hospitals in Britain, in a trial led by the University of Manchester and the Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

The Future of Cancer Immunotherapy

Poolbeg estimates that about half a million people diagnosed with the blood cancers multiple myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma will receive immunotherapy by 2031 in the US and the five biggest European countries.

Based on a potential price of $20,000 (£15,000) a treatment with the POLB 001 drug, the market could be worth $10bn.