Client News: First In-Human Clinical Trial Targeting CD4 Protein for Aggressive T-cell Leukemia and Lymphoma to be Launched | Center for Biotechnology – Stony Brook University

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Client News: First In-Human Clinical Trial Targeting CD4 Protein for Aggressive T-cell Leukemia and Lymphoma to be Launched

August 13, 2018

Stony Brook University, iCell Gene Therapeutics and University of Louisville collaborate to offer a new CAR T immunotherapy to treat patients.

Stony Brook University, iCell Gene Therapeutics, and the University of Louisville, have received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for an Investigational New Drug (IND) for the treatment of relapsed and refractory T-cell leukemia and lymphoma. The approach is the first to use chimeric antigen receptor engineered T-cells directed against the target protein CD4 (CD4CAR). Together, Stony Brook University, the University of Louisville, and iCell Gene Therapeutics expect the first in-human Phase I clinical trial to begin accruing patients before the end of 2018.

“We are excited to partner with the University of Louisville and iCell Gene Therapeutics to offer this innovative first-in-human CAR T cell immunotherapy clinical trial for patients who are suffering from these extremely difficult to treat T cell lymphomas and leukemias,” said Huda Salman, MD, Principal Investigator for the IND and an oncologist at Stony Brook University Cancer Center. “CD4CAR T cells may prove to be a promising and novel therapy in this setting.”

“The development of this trial using CD4 as a target is the first of what we expect to be many CAR T-based clinical trials available to our patients over time,” said Yusuf Hannun, MD, Director of the Stony Brook University Cancer Center. “The pending trial is an example of the type of bench-to-bedside research that is building up at Stony Brook due to the growing expertise and collaborative research environment we are creating and new opportunities that will emerge upon the opening of our Medical and Research Translation (MART) Building.”

William Tse, MD, FACP, Chief of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, is the Co-PI of the CD4CAR clinical trial at University of Louisville site.

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Applications are now open for the 12th BioREACH Award Program from the Center for Biotechnology, which provides $50,000 in translational research funding for Stony Brook faculty and postdoctoral researchers to generate the evidence needed to advance promising innovations to the next stage of development.



BioREACH funds milestone-driven studies and welcomes biomedical innovations as well as platforms, tools, computational technologies, and other enabling technologies with the potential to contribute to solutions addressing unmet needs in health.



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For info sessions, eligibility and deadlines visit our REACH Website and FAQ.



The Center for Biotechnology (CfB) has helped advance some of Stony Brook University’s most impactful biomedical innovations, among them the yeast two-hybrid system, Xiaflex®, ReoPro®, Oracea®, and 3D virtual colonoscopy. The CfB has supported more than 475 faculty-led translational research projects and contributed to 306 license agreements generating $51 million in royalty returns to the University.



Questions? Reach out to our program contacts or sign up for office hours:



Dee Dao, PhD, Associate Director, dee.dao@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 2–3:30 PM | Sign up Here



Zelda Mendelowitz, PhD, Venture Associate, zelda.mendelowitz@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8–11 AM | Sign up Here









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Join our team! The Center for Biotechnology is recruiting an Assistant Director for Technology and Business Development. The Asst. Director for Technology and Business Development will develop and help implement milestone driven commercialization strategies, and provide oversight to Commercialization Associates who have primary responsibility for conducting due diligence to guide and support Center for Biotechnology/LIBH “investments".



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BioREACH funds milestone-driven studies and welcomes biomedical innovations as well as platforms, tools, computational technologies, and other enabling technologies with the potential to contribute to solutions addressing unmet needs in health.



Application deadline: October 29, 2026, 5:00pm ET



For info sessions, eligibility and deadlines visit our REACH Website and FAQ.



The Center for Biotechnology (CfB) has helped advance some of Stony Brook University’s most impactful biomedical innovations, among them the yeast two-hybrid system, Xiaflex®, ReoPro®, Oracea®, and 3D virtual colonoscopy. The CfB has supported more than 475 faculty-led translational research projects and contributed to 306 license agreements generating $51 million in royalty returns to the University.



Questions? Reach out to our program contacts or sign up for office hours:



Dee Dao, PhD, Associate Director, dee.dao@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 2–3:30 PM | Sign up Here



Zelda Mendelowitz, PhD, Venture Associate, zelda.mendelowitz@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8–11 AM | Sign up Here









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