CLT-008: Myeloid Progenitor Cells to Treat Neutropenia

What are Progenitor Cells?

Unlike stem cells, which have the ability both to create more stem cells and to differentiate into mature cells, progenitor cells can create a large number of mature cells but cannot self-renew. They are also restricted to creating a smaller subset of mature cells than stem cells.

What is CLT-008?

Cellerant's CLT-008 consists of myeloid progenitor cells. These are progenitor cells of the blood forming system that have lost the stem cell ability to self-renew and are restricted to creating mature myeloid cells, which include red blood cells, platelets, and the immune cells that fight bacterial and fungal infections. They cannot create lymphoid cells, including the T-cells that cause graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Once infused, they create a burst of mature cells and then die after about 45 days.

Importantly, CLT-008 contains only early- to late-stage myeloid progenitor cells since we start our manufacturing process with highly purified blood-forming stem cells. Therefore, CLT-008 does not contain the mature T-cells that can cause immune reactions. CLT-008 is intended to act as a truly universal bridging therapy. It will not require immune system matching, will create mature cells for a defined period of time, and will then clear from the patient like a drug.

What Will CLT-008 Be Used For?

We are studying Cellerant's CLT-008 for use in the treatment of neutropenia, where patients lack mature granulocytes and macrophages to fight off opportunistic infections. When CLT-008 is infused, the cells are designed to differentiate to create a large number of mature daughter cells. In addition to our development program for CLT-008 in neutropenia, we are pursuing the use of CLT-008 to treat victims of radiation exposure in a nuclear terror incident or nuclear accident. For more information, please see CLT-008: Fighting Acute Radiation Syndrome.