CytoMed Therapeutics

21/10/2026

Can a little sugar make cell therapy reach more patients?

A recent study from MIT, published in Trends in Biotechnology, tackles one of the quieter bottlenecks in cell therapy: what happens to living cells between manufacture and the patient’s bedside.

Most CAR-T products are frozen and shipped using DMSO as a cryoprotectant. DMSO usually has to be washed out before infusion, a step that many hospitals are not equipped to perform and one that can reduce the number of viable, functional cells. The researchers note that only around 5 percent of US hospitals can currently generate and deliver CAR-T cells.

The team, led by Ana Jaklenec and Robert Langer at the Koch Institute, used electroporation to load the cells with trehalose and sucrose, the same natural antifreeze strategy used by organisms such as the wood frog. Only a small amount of DMSO was still needed, low enough that no removal step is required after thawing. Cells preserved this way showed higher post-thaw survival, and in mouse models of lymphoma and glioblastoma, the sugar-preserved CAR-T cells improved survival compared with conventionally preserved cells. The approach also worked for mesenchymal stem cells.

Why does this resonate with our work at CytoMed Therapeutics? Our focus is on donor-derived, allogeneic immunotherapies, including CAR γδ T cells and iPSC-derived γδ NKT cells, designed as “off-the-shelf” products. For allogeneic therapies, the promise of off-the-shelf access depends heavily on how well cells survive storage, transport and thawing. Advances in cryopreservation such as this one bring the field closer to cell therapies that are not only effective but also practical to deliver at more treatment centres.

As the authors themselves acknowledge, clinical validation is still to come. Even so, it is a timely reminder that improving every step of manufacturing, not just the biology of the cell, can meaningfully widen patient access.

🔗 https://news.mit.edu/2026/cell-preservation-technique-could-make-car-t-cell-therapy-more-accessible-0819

MIT researchers developed a way to protect CAR-T cells from damage that can occur when they are frozen for storage and shipment. Their technique should make it easier for more hospitals to provide this treatment option to cancer patients.

13/10/2026

*Disseminated on behalf of CytoMed Therapeutics Limited (NASDAQ: GDTC)

🔎 CytoMed is advancing a focused pipeline of cancer therapies across large and growing markets. Its lead candidate, CTM-N2D, is in Phase I following encouraging preclinical results demonstrating anti-cancer activity.

💻 Access the full report and analyst insights at https://www.researchfrc.com/content/reports/post/6aa47998aa2467f84fd88829/off-the-shelf-cancer-therapies-from-preclinical-promise-toward-clinical-validation

*Based on a report dated September 11, 2026
*Past performance is not indicative of future results.

23/09/2026

CytoMed Therapeutics has been initiated with research coverage by Fundamental Research Corp (FRC).

In its report "Off-the-Shelf Cancer Therapies: From Preclinical Promise Toward Clinical Validation" (11 September 2026), FRC assigns a Buy rating with a fair value estimate of US$4.16 per share.

The report examines our approach to allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies for cancer. Unlike conventional autologous CAR-T, which depends on each patient's own cells, our platform uses healthy-donor gamma delta T cells with the aim of producing treatments in advance and at scale. FRC highlights our lead candidate, CTM-N2D, now in a Phase I trial assessing safety, tolerability and dosing, alongside a broader pipeline of five candidates, with CTM-GDT positioned as the next potential program to enter the clinic.

FRC frames the opportunity against a global CAR-T market it estimates at US$6 billion in 2025, growing toward US$22 billion by 2033.

We are encouraged to see independent analysis of the science and strategy behind our work. Read the coverage here:

FRC analysts cover CytoMed Therapeutics Limited (GDTC): 1 research report, fair value estimate, and rating. Latest report Sep 11, 2026. CFA analysis since 2003.

09/09/2026

A historic first: CAR-T breaks into solid tumors 🎯

For over a decade, CAR-T therapy had one hard limit: it worked wonders in blood cancers, but couldn't crack solid tumors, the kind that make up the vast majority of cancers. 🧱

That barrier just fell. 🚀

In June 2026, China's regulator (NMPA) approved satri-cel (CT041) from CARsgen, the world's first CAR-T therapy for a solid tumor. It targets Claudin18.2, a protein switched on in many gastric and gastrointestinal cancers but largely hidden in healthy tissue, making it an ideal "flag" for engineered T cells to hunt. 🚩

The approval is for advanced gastric / gastroesophageal cancer in patients who've already exhausted other options. In its Phase 2 trial (published in The Lancet), satri-cel roughly doubled median progression-free survival (3.25 vs 1.77 months) and extended overall survival (7.92 vs 5.49 months) versus standard care, meaningful gains for heavily pre-treated patients with few choices left. 📊

Why it matters: solid tumors have long been CAR-T's toughest frontier. This is the proof point the field has been waiting for, a signal that engineered cell therapies can reach the cancers that affect the most people. 🌍

🔗 https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/carsgens-gastric-cancer-car-t-nabs-world-first-approval-china-checking-landmark-solid-tumor

The world’s first CAR-T therapy for solid tumors has passed muster in China, with the country's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) giving the green light to CARsgen Therapeutics’ satri | The Claudin18.2-targeted therapy is the first CAR-T to win global approval in a solid tumor.

26/08/2026

iPSC therapies hit a new milestone: the first-ever Phase 3 trial 🧬

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), adult cells reprogrammed into a "become-anything" state, have spent years proving themselves in small, early trials. Now they're entering the big leagues. 🏟️

Cynata Therapeutics is running CYP-004, an iPSC-derived mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy for osteoarthritis, in a 440-patient Phase 3 trial. It's the first-ever Phase 3 study of an iPSC-derived cell therapy, and the largest iPSC therapeutic trial completed to date. 📈

Here's the clever part behind it. MSCs are prized for calming inflammation and supporting tissue repair, but harvesting them from donors gives limited, variable batches. Cynata's approach makes them from iPSCs instead, meaning a near-limitless, consistent supply manufactured from a single well-characterized cell line. 🔄

Why it matters: reaching Phase 3 is a maturity marker for any therapeutic class. It shows iPSC-derived treatments are moving from "promising science" toward scalable, standardized medicine, and osteoarthritis, affecting hundreds of millions worldwide, is a fitting stage for that leap. 🦵

🔗 https://bioinformant.com/ipsc-derived-cell-therapeutics/

While iPSCs are commonly used in drug discovery, we remain in the early stages of using iPSC-derived cell therapeutics in humans.

12/08/2026

CytoMed's patented gamma delta (γδ) T cells, derived from healthy donors, target cancer cells through multiple mechanisms.

This video animates 2 of the key ways γδ T cells kill cancer cells:

1. Release of perforin and granzymes. Perforin forms pores in the cancer cell membrane, allowing granzymes to enter and trigger apoptosis (programmed cell death).

2. Recruitment and activation of other immune cells. By secreting cytokines, γδ T cells bridge the innate and adaptive immune systems and help mobilise a broader anti-tumour response.

29/07/2026

How far iPSCs have come: making stem cells with chemistry, in just 10 days

🧬 Rewind to 2006: scientists first learned to turn ordinary adult cells back into stem cells — but it took inserting genes with viruses. Powerful, yet complex and hard to standardise.

Fast-forward to 2025, and the field has taken a striking leap. 🚀

A team led by Prof. Hongkui Deng (Peking University) has built a chemical reprogramming system — one that coaxes human cells back to a pluripotent, "can-become-anything" state using only small-molecule drugs, no genetic engineering at all.

Why that's a big deal:
✨ No genome tampering — nothing is permanently inserted into the DNA, sidestepping a key safety concern
⏱️ Fast — stem cells in as few as 10 days (the previous chemical method was far slower)
✅ Reliable — a 100% success rate across 15 different donors, including cell samples that used to resist reprogramming
💊 Manufacturable — small molecules are easy to synthesise and standardise, a natural fit for pharmaceutical-grade production

🔑 The clever part: the team pinpointed specific epigenetic "brakes" (enzymes called KAT3A/KAT3B and KAT6A) holding cells back — and releasing those brakes let cells shift smoothly toward the stem-cell state.

The bigger picture? The same chemically-made stem cells have already been turned into insulin-producing cells that helped a type 1 diabetes patient achieve sustained insulin independence. 🩺

From viral genes to a bottle of small molecules in under two decades — iPSC technology is becoming faster, safer, and more scalable, bringing the promise of personalised regenerative medicine closer to reality. 🌱

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-024-01799-8

15/07/2026

⚡ CAR-T therapy can put blood cancers into deep remission — but only if the cells survive long enough to do their job.

A 2026 review in Cytotherapy (Dr. Noriko Shimasaki) highlights a key idea: how long CAR-T cells last is largely decided before infusion, during manufacturing. 🏭

🧫 The core insight: younger, "memory" T cells (TSCM and TCM) renew themselves and persist far longer than burnt-out effector cells. The goal is to keep more of them.

How? Across the four manufacturing steps:
🩸 Source — collect cells before chemo, or use donor / cord-blood / iPSC-derived cells
🧪 Stimulation — swap IL-2 for IL-7 + IL-15 to keep cells "young"
✂️ Gene editing — switch off exhaustion genes (e.g. PD-1, TET2)
⏱️ Expansion — shorter culture (some now in 3–5 days, even 24h) = less burnout

🔁 A neat finding: CAR-T cells expand in two waves after infusion — early effectors (days 8–14), then long-lasting memory cells (days 21–28). The best products may need a deliberate balance of both.

This focus on persistence and smart manufacturing is exactly where CytoMed plays. 🧬 Our allogeneic, off-the-shelf CAR-gamma delta T cell therapy (CTM-N2D) — made from healthy-donor cells and targeting NKG2D ligands on cancer — is now in its first-in-human ANGELICA trial.

Read more here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1465324926007395

01/07/2026

🔬 A world first in regenerative medicine.

In February 2026, Japan authorised the world's first two therapies built from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) — adult cells reprogrammed back to a "blank-slate" state that can become almost any tissue in the body.

❤️ ReHeart (Cuorips): for severe heart failure — iPSCs grown into heart-muscle sheets and applied to a failing heart to boost blood supply.

🧠 Amchepry (Sumitomo Pharma): for Parkinson's — iPSCs turned into dopamine-producing neurons, aiming to restore what the disease destroys.

⏳ Nearly 20 years in the making: iPSCs were discovered in 2006 (a Nobel-winning breakthrough). Both therapies now have conditional approval while long-term data is collected.

💡 iPSCs have officially moved from lab bench to clinic — proof of just how much these reprogrammed cells can do.

It's the same starting point we build on at CytoMed: our iPSC-derived gamma delta Natural Killer T cells use this technology to create an off-the-shelf, allogeneic source of cancer-fighting immune cells. 🧬 Japan's milestone is an encouraging sign for the whole field.

Read more here: https://bioinformant.com/ipsc-therapies-make-history-japan-authorizes-worlds-first-two-ipsc-based-cell-therapies/

Recently, the world witnessed the approval of the world’s first two iPSC-derived medicines, as Japan’s health ministry panel authorized their commercialization on February 19, 2026. The approved therapies are ReHeart, developed by Cuorips Inc., a regenerative medicine company spun out of researc...

18/06/2026

🔬 How CAR-T Cell Therapy Is Changing Cancer Treatment

Cancer treatment has come a long way, and one of the most exciting advances in recent years is CAR-T cell therapy.

A recent article from Business Insider highlights how CAR-T works by harnessing a patient's own immune system to fight cancer. T cells are collected, genetically modified to better recognize cancer cells, and then infused back into the patient to seek and destroy those targets.

📖 Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-car-t-cell-therapy-can-help-treat-certain-cancers

What makes CAR-T therapy so promising?

✅ It uses the body's own immune cells to target cancer.
✅ It has shown remarkable success in certain blood cancers, including leukemia and lymphoma.
✅ It represents a new generation of "living medicines" that continue working after infusion.
✅ Ongoing research is expanding its potential into additional cancer types and disease areas.

While challenges such as manufacturing complexity, cost, and effectiveness in solid tumors remain, continued innovation is helping move the field forward.

At CytoMed Therapeutics, we are part of this broader movement in cellular immunotherapy. While our focus is on allogeneic γδ T-cell therapies, the progress seen across CAR-T and other immune cell platforms reinforces the tremendous potential of cell-based therapies to transform patient care.

The future of cancer treatment may not lie in attacking cancer directly, but in empowering the immune system to do what it does best.

CAR T-cell therapy genetically alters a patient's immune cells to fight certain cancers like lymphoma and leukemia.