Dispatch Bio has dosed the first patient in a Phase I study of DISP-10 immunotherapy, a combination approach pairing a tumor-specific virus with an approved CAR T cell therapy, in adults with advanced gastrointestinal cancers — marking the clinical debut of the Philadelphia and San Francisco-based company's Flare platform. The US FDA has granted Fast Track designation to DISP-10 for this indication.
DISP-10 consists of two components administered together. DV-10 is an engineered tumor-specific virus designed to deliver a modified B cell maturation antigen (dBCMA) alongside the cytokines IL-18 and CXCL9 to tumor cells, effectively painting a synthetic antigen onto the tumor surface, remodeling the tumor microenvironment, and promoting T cell trafficking into the tumor. The second component is idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel), Bristol Myers Squibb's BCMA-directed CAR T cell therapy approved in the US for multiple myeloma, which is not approved or previously studied in solid tumors. By engineering tumor cells to express a synthetic BCMA target, Dispatch aims to redirect ide-cel's established cytotoxic activity against GI malignancies.
The Phase I trial (NCT07544589) is a multicenter, open-label, first-in-human study enrolling up to 66 participants with colorectal cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, esophageal adenocarcinoma, or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma. The study is designed to evaluate safety, tolerability, and activity of DISP-10. The company reported that the first participant received both DV-10 and ide-cel and completed the protocol-defined dose-limiting toxicity evaluation period, though no safety or efficacy data from that observation were disclosed.
CAR T cell therapies have historically shown limited efficacy in solid tumors because of the scarcity of uniformly expressed tumor-specific antigens and the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Rather than engineering a new CAR T receptor against a native tumor antigen, Dispatch's strategy seeks to overcome these barriers by transiently introducing a synthetic BCMA target into tumor cells, enabling the use of an established BCMA-directed CAR T therapy. The approach aligns with a broader effort to expand CAR T beyond hematologic malignancies through tumor-targeting and microenvironment engineering, distinguishing it from programs that instead develop CAR T cells against endogenous solid tumor antigens, such as ImmunoChina's GUCY2C-directed IM96. Early Phase I data for IM96 showed an objective response rate of 26.3% across evaluable patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, increasing to 40% at the optimal dose level, although cross-trial comparisons are limited by differences in study design, patient populations, and therapeutic approach.