Stem-cell–derived natural killer cells engineered in a similar way to CAR-T cells may pave the way to “off the shelf” cancer therapies that aren’t patient-specific.

Drugs approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis block cytokines, the molecules responsible for severe side effects from the immunotherapy, and reduce symptoms in mice.

Lonza will employ more than 200 full-time staff to work at the Texas-based facility, the company says.

Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi to take over hemophilia drugmaker Biovertiv, while Celgene will buy cancer drugmaker Juno Therapeutics.

More than 200 people are on waiting lists for the $373,000 treatment as hospitals try to work around problems with insurers. 

T-cell therapies are not just for cancer. Researchers are also advancing immunotherapy methods to protect bone marrow transplant patients from viral infections. 

The immunotherapy, which targets CD22 on cancer cells rather than CD19, might prove useful in patients for whom previous T-cell treatments were unsuccessful. 

A team has engineered two stem cell lines into “synthetic T cells” that destroy breast cancer cells in vitro. 

The therapy, produced by Kite Pharma and owned by Gilead Sciences, is approved for use against some types of large B-cell lymphomas.