New CAR-T Cell Manufacturing Method Extends Immune Cell Persistence

Researchers develop a technique to create longer-lasting CAR-T cells for cancer and HIV treatment

Mar. 13, 2026 at 7:23pm

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A research team led by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine has developed a new strategy to engineer immune cells that dramatically prolongs their effectiveness after being infused into patients to fight cancer and HIV. Their findings, published in Science Advances, describe a manufacturing approach that generates longer-lasting CAR-T cells with enhanced self-renewal capabilities compared to the existing process.

Why it matters

Current CAR-T cell therapies can initially produce dramatic remissions, but their killing ability often diminishes over time, leading to cancer relapse in roughly half of treated patients. The same persistence problem has constrained efforts to extend CAR-T therapy to treat people living with HIV. This new manufacturing method aims to overcome these limitations by creating CAR-T cells that can patrol the body for years, continually hunting down and eliminating residual malignant or infected cells.

The details

The researchers used a specially engineered fusion protein called HCW9206, which links three naturally occurring cytokines (IL-7, IL-15, and IL-21) that promote T cell survival and immune memory. When used to generate CAR-T cells, this multi-cytokine scaffold approach resulted in more than half of the CAR-T cells belonging to a rare population known as T memory stem cells - long-lived cells capable of self-renewal and generating fresh waves of highly active immune fighters over time. In contrast, less than 5% of CAR-T cells produced using the conventional method displayed this long-lived, stem cell-like profile.

  • The findings were published on March 13, 2026.

The players

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

A premier academic center for basic science research, clinical investigation, and biomedical education located in the Bronx, New York.

Harris Goldstein, M.D.

Professor of pediatrics and of microbiology & immunology, and director of the Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY-Mount Sinai Center for AIDS Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Erin Cole, M.S.

A graduate student in Dr. Goldstein's laboratory and first author of the study.

HCW Biologics, Inc.

A biotechnology company based in Miramar, Florida that developed the protein scaffold used in the study.

Caring Cross

A biotechnology company based in Gaithersburg, Maryland that collaborated on the study.

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What they’re saying

“Our goal was to engineer therapeutic immune cells so they would not only be powerful killers but also long-lived and capable of self-renewal, to markedly extend their effectiveness after infusion into patients.”

— Harris Goldstein, M.D., Professor of pediatrics and of microbiology & immunology, and director of the Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY-Mount Sinai Center for AIDS Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine

“T memory stem cells are considered to be critical for long-term immune persistence. They can continually replenish the pool of active CAR-T cells, a crucially important attribute for their long-term success in combating both cancer and HIV infection.”

— Harris Goldstein, M.D., Professor of pediatrics and of microbiology & immunology, and director of the Einstein-Rockefeller-CUNY-Mount Sinai Center for AIDS Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine

What’s next

The researchers plan to further evaluate the long-term efficacy of the multi-cytokine scaffold-generated CAR-T cells in additional preclinical models and prepare for potential clinical trials.

The takeaway

This new manufacturing approach for creating longer-lasting, self-renewing CAR-T cells could significantly improve the long-term effectiveness of these 'living drugs' in treating cancer and HIV, potentially leading to higher remission rates and reduced relapse for patients.