“Off the Shelf” CAR-T/NK Cells

Off-the-shelf T and NK cell-based strategies are the of future allogeneic cellular therapies, as they overcome most of the current limitations associated with classical CAR-T cell therapies. The source of cells for off-the-shelf T or NK products will likely be diverse due to leveraging distinct attributes of different effector cell types (blood, cord blood, and iPSC) currently in development. Technological advances in synthetic biology have yielded a diverse set of chimeric antigen receptors, engineered cytokine support, and gene edits that improve the feasibility, activity, and safety of allogeneic T and NK cell therapies. One barrier to the success of allogeneic T and NK cell therapies is recognition and rejection by the patients’ immune systems, and strategies to make stealth off-the-shelf cell therapies are under investigation.