Autologous Ex Vivo Expanded Regulatory T Cells in Ulcerative Colitis
Together with Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the major forms of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).Currently, no causative therapy is available, since the pathophysiology of this disease is incompletely understood (1-3) and clinical practice demonstrates that current therapies induce remission in subgroups of patients only. Scientific evidence suggests that colitogenic immune responses can be controlled by increasing the number of circulating regulatory T cells (Treg) (4). The production of large numbers of autologous Treg is possible by isolation of CD25+ cells from the whole blood of a patient and subsequent ex vivo expansion in the presence of the immunomodulatory drug rapamycin, Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and CD3/CD28 expander beads (5). ER-TREG 01 is a single-center, open-label, fast-track phase I dose-escalation study designed to assess the safety profile and maximal tolerated dose (MTD) of a single infusion of ex vivo expanded autologous Treg in patients with active ulcerative colitis.
Start: February 2021