A Phase 1 interventional study of Obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel) in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, sponsored by Autolus Limited. Active, not recruiting at 6 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 12 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-31.
Sponsored by Autolus Limited · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment
This is a Phase 1 study of obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel), autologous T cells engineered with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) targeting CD19, to establish the tolerability, safety, preliminary efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of obe-cel in patients with severe, refractory SLE.
This is a single-arm, open-label Phase 1 Study to determine the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of obe-cel in patients with severe, refractory SLE. Up to a maximum of 18 patients will be treated in a maximum of 3 dose levels.
By using the Bayesian Optimal Interval (BOIN) design for overdose control, the Sponsor will review the Safety Review Committee (SRC) and Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) recommendation and determine if a dose level is suitable for a subsequent study.
1,207 studies on the registry are indexed under Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; 405 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 16 is below the median of 52 across 876 interventional studies indexed under Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic.
Browse Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic studies →Autolus Limited is the lead sponsor of 11 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
-Key Inclusion Criteria-
Exclusion Criteria:
-Key Exclusion Criteria-
Medications
SLE and Autoimmunity:
Medical History:
History or presence of: (Within 3 months before screening visit)
Laboratory and Organ Function:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.
Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.
Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.
Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.
After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Relapsed and refractory
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Immunosuppression
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Autoimmune disease
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Clinically significant
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
NYHA class (heart failure)
The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.
Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hepatitis B tests
Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.
Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hepatitis C tests
Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.
After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Biological: Obecabtagene autoleucel (obe-cel)
Following lymphodepletion with chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide and fludarabine) patients will be treated with a single dose of obe-cel
Dose-limiting toxicities
Percentage of patients receiving obe-cel who experience dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs)
Time frame: Up to 28 days from obe-cel infusion
Adverse events
Adverse event (AE) type, frequency, severity, and relationship with obe-cel and lymphodepletion of AEs
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Remission rate according to Definition of Remission in SLE (DORIS)
Remission rate as specified by Definition of Remission in SLE (DORIS)
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Response over time according to Definition of Remission in SLE (DORIS)
Response over time as specified by Definition of Remission in SLE (DORIS)
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Time to response according to Definition of Remission in SLE (DORIS)
Time to response as specified by Definition of Remission in SLE (DORIS)
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Change over time in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K)
Change compared to baseline in the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) score. The total score is the sum of all marked SLE-related descriptors. A total score can fall between 0 and 105, with a higher score representing a more significant degree of disease activity.
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Change over time in Physician's global assessment (PGA)
Change compared to baseline in physician's global assessment (PGA) of average SLE disease severity on a visual analog scale (VAS) between 0 and 3 where 0 represents no disease, 1 represents mild disease activity, 2 represents moderate disease activity, and 3 represents a severe disease activity (highest and most severe possible disease activity). At least 10% change improvement or worsening in PGA to be clinically significant compared to baseline
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Pharmacokinetics (maximum serum concentration [Cmax]): Detection of CAR-T cells by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in peripheral blood
Detection of CAR T cells measured by PCR in the peripheral blood after obe-cel infusion
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Pharmacokinetics (time to reaching maximum serum concentration [Tmax]): Detection of CAR-T cells by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in peripheral blood
Detection of CAR T cells measured by PCR in the peripheral blood after obe-cel infusion
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Pharmacokinetics (area under the curve [AUC]): Detection of CAR-T cells by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in peripheral blood
Detection of CAR T cells measured by PCR in the peripheral blood after obe-cel infusion
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Pharmacokinetics (last observed quantifiable concentration [Clast]): Detection of CAR-T cells by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in peripheral blood
Detection of CAR T cells measured by PCR in the peripheral blood after obe-cel infusion
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Pharmacokinetics (time to reach last observed quantifiable concentration [Tlast]): Detection of CAR-T cells by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in peripheral blood
Detection of CAR T cells measured by PCR in the peripheral blood after obe-cel infusion
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Pharmacodynamics: B cell aplasia
Depletion of circulating B cells in the peripheral blood
Time frame: Up to Month 12
Started Feb 2024 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2027, 43 months after the start.
Of 107 industry-sponsored phase 1 interventional studies under Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic, half reached primary completion within 28 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 13 and three quarters within 35. This study's planned 43 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 146 studies reached it within 28 months; a quarter within 16 and three quarters within 36.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jul 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Studies of the drug tested here: Obecabtagene autoleucel
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic →
Autolus Limited