Definition

A preparation of off-the-shelf (OTS), allogeneic and ex vivo expanded natural killer cells (NKs) that are engineered to express membrane-bound IL-15 (mbIL15) and a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) targeting the tumor-associated antigen (TAA) CD19 that is coupled to the co-stimulatory domain of OX40 (CD134), and to the zeta chain of the TCR/CD3 complex (CD3-zeta; CD3zeta), with potential immunomodulating and antineoplastic activities. Upon administration of allogeneic CD19-OX40-CD3zeta-CAR-mbIL-15-expressing NK cells NKX019, these cells specifically target and bind to tumor cells expressing CD19. This induces secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and results in the lysis of CD19-expressing tumor cells. IL-15 is a pro-survival cytokine that potentiates the immune response against tumor cells. CD19 antigen is a B-cell specific cell surface antigen expressed in all B-cell lineage malignancies.