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Analysis published in the April 2019 edition of Nature Biotechnology also shows that ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ and ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳H’s Dr Martin Pule is the third most prolific inventor of CAR T technology in the world.

Considering Europe alone, ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ has filed 117 CAR T-related patents, ahead of Germany’s Forschungsinstitut Georg-Speyer-Haus (14 patents) and the University of Koln (10).

While patents are held by ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳, clinical testing is done at ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳H and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

CAR T-cell therapy is a form of treatment for patients who do not respond to standard anti-cancer treatments like chemotherapy, and has been shown in trials to cure some patients, even those with advanced cancers. ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳H consultant Prof Emma Morris has said the therapy represents 'a real step change in how we treat cancers'.

In CAR T therapy, T-cells – part of our immune system which normally kill infected cells – are taken from a person’s blood sample, grown in the laboratory and ‘re-programmed’ to recognise and kill cancer cells just as they would naturally attack an infected cell. This reprogramming is achieved by introducing a gene for an artificial protein called a chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR for short.

Further information

• Analysis: . Nature Biotechnology
• ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ CAR T programme