Research

Regulatory T cell therapy

Patients with Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) at the University Hospital Dresden were treated under a named patient program with donor-derived Treg therapy manufactured at our in-house GMP facility. These patients showed favorable clinical responses, including reduced inflammatory complications, even after tapering standard immunosuppressive drugs. The production of this advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) is a multi-step process, including a second donor apheresis and GMP-compliant isolation and expansion of Tregs.

Longitudinal immune monitoring of patient blood and serum after Treg infusion, using high-dimensional platforms such as mass cytometry (CyTOF) and multiplex proteomics, revealed a clear but transient reduction in inflammatory cytokines and immune cell subsets. Building on these findings, and with the goal of achieving a more specific and durable immune regulation, our lab is now advancing CAR-engineered Treg therapies and precision immunomodulation strategies.

Universal adapter CAR Tregs

To address the limitations of polyclonal Treg therapy, we are applying the universal RevCAR platform to our Treg therapies in collaboration with the research group of Anja Feldmann. The RevCAR system uses a modular adapter approach in which antigen specificity is conferred by a bispecific Target Module (RevTM). This design allows a single engineered Treg product to be directed to different targets through administration of the appropriate RevTM, with potential for controlled activation and localized immunosuppression. A clinical-scale manufacturing protocol has been established using adult blood-derived RevCAR Tregs, employing GMP-compatible reagents and an automated cell manufacturing system - the CliniMACS Prodigy (Lakshmi et al., 2025).

This project, funded by the SaxoCell Cluster4Future (BMFTR), has now progressed to Phase II (“UniK-T”). In this phase, we aim to further enhance the therapeutic product by utilizing cord blood-derived Tregs. In addition, we are incorporating genetic modifications using designer recombinases developed by our collaborators Frank Buchholz and Seamless to enable allogeneic, off-the-shelf application of the product. This work is carried out in partnership with DKMS Stem Cell Bank, which provides fresh cord blood samples to support the development of a RevCAR Treg product with potential applicability across multiple immune-mediated indications.

Virus-specific T cells

This project focuses on developing Virus-specific T cell (VST) therapies to treat severe viral infections in immunocompromised patients, especially after stem cell transplantation. We established clinical-grade protocols to produce T cells targeting common viruses such as CMV, EBV, AdV and act as a manufacturing center within the TRACE Phase III clinical trial—a placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of VST therapy in pediatric and adult patients. Our manufacturing licence allows treatment for individual patients for the above-mentioned indications as well as JCV-specific T cell therapy for Progressive Mulitifocal Leucoencephalopathy.

Universal adapter CAR-T cells

This project, funded by the Mildred Scheel Nachwuchszentrum (MSNZ) as a joint project with Claudia Arndt and Anja Feldmann from the Helmholtz-Center Dresden-Rossendorf, aims to develop an off-the-shelf cell therapy for T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). The approach involves modifying allogeneic umbilical cord blood-derived T cells with universal CAR receptors and additional genetic modifications to enable targeted elimination of malignant T cells in an off-the-shelf therapeutic approach.