$2.9 Million NCI Grant Awarded for Clinical Development of RedHill's Opaganib and CAR T-Cell Combination in Ultra-High-Risk Multiple Myeloma
Key Highlights
- ➤$2.9 million NCI grant funds RedHill-opaganib CAR T-cell trials
- ➤Phase 1b plans enrollment of up to 18 patients
- ➤Phase 2 plans enrollment of up to 21 additional patients
- ➤OU will manufacture CAR T cells on campus for first time
- ➤RedHill expected to provide opaganib in clinical-trial partnership
Expert Statements
Yubin Kang, M.D., OU Health hematologist-oncologist, division chief of Hematology, Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, and professor at the OU College of Medicine
“We need to find a novel, more effective treatment option for patients with ultra-high-risk multiple myeloma as they continue to have poor outcomes despite current treatments.”
Yubin Kang, M.D., OU Health hematologist-oncologist, division chief of Hematology, Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, and professor at the OU College of Medicine
“With 10 years of preclinical studies on CAR T-cell therapy and opaganib, we believe the findings suggest that opaganib may help the modified immune cells remain active and continue attacking myeloma for longer.”
Yubin Kang, M.D., OU Health hematologist-oncologist, division chief of Hematology, Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, and professor at the OU College of Medicine
“I am excited to see whether combining CAR T-cell therapy with opaganib can produce longer-lasting responses and improve outcomes for these high-risk patients.”
Mark Levitt, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer of RedHill Biopharma
“Opaganib has shown promise in preclinical studies as a potential combination therapy in a number of oncology and other indications.”
Mark Levitt, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer of RedHill Biopharma
“Prior preclinical and clinical work has shown that through a reduction of cancer cell survival proteins like c-Myc and Mcl-1, opaganib can potentially play a role in the treatment of multiple myeloma.”
Mark Levitt, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer of RedHill Biopharma
“We congratulate Dr. Kang and OU on this grant, which has the potential to be an important step to determine through clinical trials, whether these preclinical findings can turn into reality.”
$2.9 Million NCI Grant Awarded for Clinical Development of RedHill's Opaganib and CAR T-Cell Combination in Ultra-High-Risk Multiple Myeloma PR Newswire
TEL AVIV, Israel and RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- RedHill Biopharma Ltd. (Nasdaq: RDHL) ("RedHill" or the "Company"), a specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced that its partner, the University of Oklahoma (OU), has received $2.9 million in funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to study, in clinical trials, whether RedHill's opaganib[1], given after CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy, may help immune cells fight cancer more effectively.
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