Eliminating the Cells Responsible for Autoimmune Disease
DSG3/1-CAART is being developed to treat mucocutaneous pemphigus vulgaris (mcPV), a B cell-mediated autoimmune disease that causes blistering of the skin and mucous membranes. mcPV is caused by autoantibodies that attack the cell adhesion proteins DSG3 and DSG1.
DSG3/1-CAART is designed to selectively target and kill the B cells that express the pathogenic autoantibodies while preserving the healthy B cells critical to immune function. We anticipate that much of what we learn from our DSG3-CAART program, including clinical trial design in the DesCAARTesTM trial, will inform and potentially accelerate the development of DSG3/1-CAART.