PTX presentations sell the OmniCAR sizzle pretty good. A bit of...

PTX presentations sell the OmniCAR sizzle pretty good. A bit of research for those interested in the tech.

This Feb 2020 article https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7062233/ provides a summary of the control technologies in the OmniCAR space. My interpretation of the material is that OmniCAR is an "Adapter mediated CAR" and if that's correct then it is a method with the longest cell viability with the greatest flexibility.

The references provided in that paper indicate that Penn was first with the idea. Following the bread crumbs got me to this patent https://patents.google.com/patent/US20140234348/el with a priority date of 22/9/2011 and an adjusted expiration of 7/11/2032. I suggest that this is the patent for OmniCAR.

One always has doubt about the providence of a technology when it gets a little hyped trade name makeover. Why PTX, an Australian minnow, was able to pick up the licence for Omnicar? Maybe it was the prior PTX/Penn association, but if it is good tech then why didn't others pick it up first as the patent was published in 2014? I suggest that it maybe a fortuitous find as the discovery came out of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology rather than the strict immunology/oncology research pathways at Penn.

There's a bit of work to do to get it into the clinic but the tech and prospects for OmniCAR appears to be more substantial than just cartoon soldiers getting commands from HQ on their walkie talkie. And that's good.