Bringing Cell Therapy Trials to the Community Clinic
Unmet need remains substantial for people living with autoimmune diseases. Current therapies often fall short in preventing disease flares, limiting organ damage, and reducing reliance on medications such as steroids and immunosuppressants, which can carry significant long-term toxicities.
The rise of second-generation cell therapies targeting the underlying drivers of autoimmune disease has the potential to be the defining medical innovation of a generation. However, a critical operational challenge threatens progress: Underfunded and understaffed academic medical centers lack the capacity to enroll rheumatology trials rapidly enough to keep pace with patient demand.
At the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy annual meeting last month, our CEO offered up a bold solution: bring next-generation cell therapy trials to community clinics.
Patients Story
STARING DOWN MYOSITIS AND KIDNEY CANCER
Love and Community Fuel Stephen’s Harrowing Survival Story
At the time of his dermatomyositis diagnosis, he was already deep into his PhD training as a neuroscientist. He was fascinated by the mysteries of the brain, never imagining the health mysteries of his own body he would have to solve.
Patients Story
Dermatomyositis Took Her Old Life, But It Couldn’t Conquer Her Spirit
A disease that ravages muscle and skin made Melissa stronger and her skin thicker
Melissa’s day job checking patients into a busy ER demanded stamina, quick thinking and steadiness amidst the chaos. But then, like a looter in a riot, dermatomyositis ransacked her world, stealing precious things it had no right to take.
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It’s a ‘Bad Day, Not a Bad Life’
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Kimberly was hard on herself, but eventually she replaced self-judgment with self-love. Instead of seeing her body as betraying her, she now sees health episodes as her body trying to get her attention to ask for care.
Patients STory
The Warrior Who Taught Us Lupus Doesn’t Discriminate
Doctors told Emmitt he had stage 3 kidney disease caused by systemic lupus that had gone undiagnosed and untreated for years. Yet, even with a diagnosis in hand, the truth still didn’t fully land.
Q&A WITH DR. SHAWN ROSE
Autoimmune Innovation Merits a “Greater Sense of Urgency”
“I sat in the chair for four long hours with these large-bore needles that hurt like hell, hooked up to this noisy, clanking machine watching the blood flowing through. It was a harrowing experience.
Patients First
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On the Biotech Nation podcast, Nkarta CEO Paul Hastings discusses how research funding cuts and pharmaceutical tariff increases impact patients’ access to treatments and cures.
Patients First
Our Clinical Trial Promise
Instead of asking people with serious diseases to reconstruct their lives around our studies, drug developers should be striving to design our research around their lives. Read about what Nkarta is doing to make clinical trial opportunities more accessible and equitable.
Nature
Boosted Killer Cells Show
Promise For Autoimmune Disease
“Supercharged ‘natural killer’ cells could become a potent way to reset a disordered immune system,” according to one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals.
CEO Fireside
Changing What’s Possible in Autoimmune Treatment
Nkarta CEO Paul Hastings, a lifelong patient advocate, breaks down natural killer cell therapy and how it could potentially transform the therapeutic landscape in autoimmunity.