Interview: Measured Launch, Long Future For Gilead CAR-T In Europe

Positive recommendations for the approval of CAR-T therapies Yescarta and Kymriah were delivered in Europe in June. Michael Elliott, Gilead Sciences' VP for medical affairs in Europe, spoke to Scrip about the Yescarta launch strategy and the long-term future of CAR-T.

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Gilead is preparing for the long road in CAR-T • Source: Shutterstock

Gilead Sciences Inc. and Novartis AG are poised to simultaneously launch Europe's first CAR-T therapies within the next couple of months following the expected approval from the European Commission of Gilead's Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) and Novartis' Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel). Both therapies received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's drug evaluation committee, the CHMP, on June 29, paving the way for approval in early September. Both are recommended for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), while Yescarta is also recommended for primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma and Kymriah for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

While Yescarta and Kymriah have both been launched in the US already, the timing and the indications were different. Kymriah...

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