Melanoma Research Welcomes US FDA Nod of First cellular Therapy in Melanoma

The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) is the biggest non-profit organization that funds research on melanoma globally. They have expressed their approval of the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to authorize Iovance Biotherapeutics' Amtagvi (lifileucel) for treating people with advanced melanoma in the second-line treatment setting.

Amtagvi is the first individualized Tumour Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) therapy to earn FDA approval for any cancer. In TIL therapy, immune cells called lymphocytes are separated from a patient’s surgically removed tumour, grown in large numbers in the lab over a set number of days, and then reinfused back into the patient. Prior to receiving their personalized TIL infusion, a patient’s existing lymphocytes are depleted using chemotherapy. After the TIL infusion, patients are treated with a therapy that stimulates the immune system to grow and divide. The newly infused army of TILs go on to wipe out cancer cells in the body, as per pharmabiz.

“With this approval patients who have progressed following treatment with existing standard of care therapies have a promising treatment option with this new type of cell-based therapy,” says MRA chief science officer Joan Levy, PhD. “This represents another leap forward for the entire melanoma community and will benefit patients across the country and hopefully in the future expand to other types of cancer.”

“This groundbreaking T-cell immunotherapy represents a significant advancement in our ability to combat melanoma,” says MRA chief executive officer Marc Hurlbert, PhD. “By deploying patient specific immune cells that recognize and fight cancer, Amtagvi offers hope to those previously treated with anti-PD-1 antibodies and targeted therapies. It’s a remarkable milestone in personalized melanoma treatment.”

The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) is the largest non-profit organization that provides funding for melanoma research. Founded in 2007 by Debra and Leon Black, MRA aims to put an end to the suffering and death caused by melanoma by promoting the most promising science and research in the world. MRA is committed to funding melanoma cancer research that drives advances in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, metastasis, and survivorship. Researchers who receive funding from MRA have been involved in all major melanoma research and development breakthroughs.