Verily, an Alphabet precision health technology company, and Kyverna Therapeutics ("Kyverna"), a clinical-stage cell therapy company engineering a new class of therapies for autoimmune diseases, today announced a multi-year collaboration to identify novel biomarkers and innovate clinical trial design and execution.

The initial phase of the collaboration focuses on deploying Verily's state-of-the-art immune mapping platform (Immune Profiler) to elucidate biomarkers of treatment response in autoimmune patients treated with Kyverna's KYV-101, an autologous Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy currently in Phase 1 clinical trials in the US and Europe.

"B cell depletion using CAR T-cells represents a new frontier with curative potential for autoimmune patients, and together we will be uncovering the biological basis of the immune reset that confers durable therapeutic response in these patients," said Charlie Kim, head of molecular science at Verily.

Immune Profiler's high-resolution molecular phenotyping and advanced computational analytics enables interrogation of a broad range of immune functions over the time course of CAR T-cell therapy, providing an unparalleled view of biological activity. Kyverna brings a network of research-ready participants and a growing sample library from treating autoimmune patients in multiple indications and geographies with KYV-101, its fully human anti-CD19 CAR T-cell therapy.

"We are excited to explore our emerging patient data set, which will enable us to generate a first look into the biology underlying immune reset after administration of CAR T-cell therapy," said James Chung, chief medical officer at Kyverna.

Additionally, as part of the collaboration, Verily and Kyverna will implement digital tools and technology solutions to reframe evidence generation, using a participant-centered study design that draws conclusions from data collected in real-world settings in addition to data collected directly from study sites. The companies will also develop solutions specifically designed for the needs of autoimmune patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy.

"We are pleased to partner with Verily based on our shared vision to create the future landscape of clinical research, and to enable broader data collection from real-world settings that may contribute to regulatory decision-making," said Peter Maag, chief executive officer of Kyverna.

"This collaboration links Verily's deep molecular capabilities with its extensive suite of tools for real-world evidence generation, providing a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the biology and participant experience with this new therapeutic modality in autoimmune disease," said Amy Abernethy, president of product development and chief medical officer at Verily.