Pilot Study Evaluating Safety & Efficacy of DCBT: NiCord® & UNM CBU to Patients With Hematological Malignancies

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a potentially curative procedure for various hematological malignancies, bone marrow failure syndromes and inherited metabolic disorders. The application of allogeneic HSCT is limited by donor availability such that only approximately one-third of the otherwise appropriate candidates have suitably matched family donors. Alternative donors include mismatched family members or matched unrelated donors, but these approaches are often complicated by an increased risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and a prolonged and cumbersome search and procurement process. In addition, far fewer subjects of racial minorities find suitable human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donors.

Umbilical cord blood has been increasingly used as an alternative source of stem cells and has extended the availability of allogeneic HSCT to patients who would otherwise not be eligible for this curative approach. In the last decade the number of cord blood transplantations from related and unrelated donors has increased dramatically. It is estimated that more than 20,000 patients have undergone cord blood transplantation from unrelated donors to date for a variety of genetic, hematological, immunological, metabolic and oncologic disorders. The major advantages of cord blood transplantation include easy procurement, no risk to donors, reduced incidence of transmitting infections, immediate availability, and reduced risk of acute GvHD in the setting of donor-recipient HLA mismatch. Nevertheless, the low cell dose remains a main limitation of this cell source leading to delayed hematopoietic reconstitution, higher risk of graft failure and relatively high treatment related mortality rates as compared to other hematopoeitic cell sources. To improve outcomes and extend applicability of cord blood transplantation, one potential solution is ex vivo expansion of cord blood-derived stem and progenitor cells.

The Sponsor has undertaken to develop NiCord®, which is based on a novel technology for ex vivo cell expansion of cord blood derived hematopoietic progenitor cells. By increasing the number of the short and long-term reconstitution progenitor cells transplanted, NiCord® has the potential to enable broader application of umbilical cord blood transplantation and improve clinical outcomes in subjects with high-risk hematological malignancies.

The main objective of the current study is to evaluate the safety of co-transplantation of NiCord® and an unmanipulated cord blood unit in patients with hematological malignancies following myeloablative therapy.