CRISPR Therapeutics reported encouraging preliminary Phase 1 data for its gene-edited cell therapy, zugocabtagene geleucel (zugo-cel), in patients with severe autoimmune diseases. [2, 5] The update covered systemic sclerosis (SSc), idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). [3, 9]
Data presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2026 showed that 83% (5 of 6) of patients with SSc achieved a clinical response at three months. [4, 8] All responders maintained their response.
All nine patients with IIM achieved a moderate or major response. [5, 9]
The allogeneic CAR-T therapy was well tolerated among all 21 patients dosed in the study. [3, 4, 5] Researchers observed no major safety concerns.