Astra’s Early Test Fuels Hope for Cell Therapy Approach to Lupus

AstraZeneca Plc said a handful of patients with lupus went into remission after getting an experimental treatment, as the UK drugmaker plows billions into the growing area of cell therapy called CAR-T.

The medicine, which Astra gained in the takeover of Gracell Biopharmaceuticals Inc., has only just entered clinical trials. But the tiny study, conducted in Shanghai, had a stark impact on ten young volunteers whose disease wasn’t controlled by earlier treatment. Six of them no longer showed signs of having lupus nine months after the one-time infusion, according to early results.

Astra is racing against other pharma firms in ...