Posoleucel for BK Polyomavirus in Kidney Transplant Recipients

What is it about?

A recent phase-2 multicenter randomized three-armed double-blind placebo-controlled trial reported that posoleucel (PSL), an off-the-shelf third party multivirus-specific T cell preparation, is safe and could be assessed in phase-3 RCTs as potential treatment of kidney transplant recipients presenting with BK polyomavirus (BKPyV)-DNAemia/nephropathy. We discuss important aspects for increasing the efficacy of PSL in phase-3 RCTs by improving HLA-class I matching, including those presenting immunodominant 9mer epitopes, and augmenting virus-specific T cell responses. These considerations may help to increase the virological and clinical responses of PSL or similar products compared to the current standard of care and thereby facilitate a first therapy for BKPyV.

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