ALLO - CAR T therapy competition heats up as Allogene plans pivotal trial

Allogene (ALLO) plans to initiate a pivotal trial of its off-the-shelf CAR T therapy ALLO-501A by the end of the year.The disclosure was made May 20 as the company reported positive early-stage data on several CAR T candidates it will present at next month's American Society of Clinical Oncology ("ASCO") annual meeting.ALLO-501A is currently in phase 1/2b development for  relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma ("NHL").Off-the-shelf, or allo, CAR T therapies have advantages over autologous CAR T counterparts, according to Jefferies analyst Kelly Shi, in terms of broader patient access.If approved, ALLO-501A would compete with other CAR T therapies for NHL: Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BMY) Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel) and Gilead (GILD) division Kite's Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel).Allogene executives Arie Belldegrun and David Chang were previously with Kite.#ASCO21Allogene shares are up 0.2% to $26.06, Bristol shares are up 0.8% to $67.61, and Gilead shares are down 0.2% to $68.59 in morning trading.

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CAR T therapy competition heats up as Allogene plans pivotal trial