ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT06821659Updated Sep 23, 2026

Safety and Efficacy of Universal CAR-T Cells (UWD-CD19) Combined With Immunosuppressants in the Treatment of Refractory Autoimmune Diseases

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of anti-CD19 CAR-T cells in Systemic Lupus Erthematosus, Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) and Inflammatory Myopathies, sponsored by Peking University Third Hospital. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 80 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-23.

Sponsored by Peking University Third Hospital · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
9
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 80 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Autoimmune diseases refer to a common category of diseases caused by the immune system reacting to self-antigens, leading to tissue damage. Autoimmune diseases encompass a wide variety of conditions, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjögren's syndrome, systemic sclerosis, inflammatory myopathies, ANCA-associated vasculitis. Current treatments for autoimmune diseases include glucocorticoid, immunosuppressants, and biologics. B cell-driven humoral immune abnormalities are a central pathogenic mechanism in many autoimmune diseases. When autoreactive B cells are excessively activated, they produce large amounts of autoantibodies and immune complexes. These antibodies and immune complexes can cause damage to various tissues and organs, leading to the development of multiple autoimmune diseases. Therefore, targeting B cells to treat autoimmune diseases is an attractive therapeutic strategy. Clinical studies are exploring the use of CD19-targeting CAR-T cells for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, and their therapeutic efficacy has been demonstrated. In this study, we investigate the safety and efficacy of universal CD19-targeting CAR T cells in the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

02

Conditions studied

  • Systemic Lupus Erthematosus
  • Systemic Sclerosis (SSc)
  • Inflammatory Myopathies
  • ANCA Associated Vasculitis (AAV)
  • Sjogren Syndrome
03

In context

Scleroderma, Systemic

610 studies on the registry are indexed under Scleroderma, Systemic; 218 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 9 is below the median of 37 across 446 interventional studies indexed under Scleroderma, Systemic.

Browse Scleroderma, Systemic studies →

Lead sponsor

Peking University Third Hospital is the lead sponsor of 752 studies on the registry; 273 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 80 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

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.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Age between 18-80 years (inclusive), male or female.
  2. >40kg.
  3. Diagnosed with disease, defined as: Ineffectiveness of conventional treatment for more than 6 months, or Disease activity recurrence after remission. Definition of conventional treatment: Use of and any of the following or biologics: cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, methotrexate, leflunomide, tacrolimus, cyclosporine, rituximab, belimumab, telitacicept, etc.
  4. Currently receiving one or more standard therapies at a stable dose, including glucocorticoids, antimalarials, immunosuppressants, or biologics. If the subject is receiving glucocorticoids, the following conditions must be met: During screening and the screening period, the maximum dose of glucocorticoids is 30 mg/day prednisone (or an equivalent dose). The glucocorticoid dose must remain stable for ≥7 days before screening, and during the screening period, the dose adjustment must not exceed >5 mg/day prednisone (or an equivalent dose). If the subject is receiving antimalarials and/or conventional immunosuppressants: The treatment must have started ≥12 weeks before screening. The medication dose must remain stable for ≥8 weeks before screening and throughout the screening period. Before cell infusion, other immunosuppressants (excluding hydroxychloroquine), including belimumab, telitacicept, CD20 monoclonal antibodies, or other biologic immunosuppressants, must be discontinued for at least 5 half-lives.
  5. Female participants of and male participants with female partners of childbearing potential must use medically approved methods or practice abstinence during the study treatment period and for at least 6 months after the study. Female participants of childbearing potential must have a negative serum HCG test within 7 days before enrollment and must not be breastfeeding.
  6. Willing to participate in the trial and sign the form.

Disease-Specific Inclusion Criteria:

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE):

  1. Meets the 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria for SLE.
  2. ANA titer ≥1:80, or positive for anti-dsDNA and/or anti-Sm antibodies.
  3. Disease activity score (SLEDAI-2000) ≥8.

Sjögren's Syndrome:

  1. Meets the 2002 AECG criteria or the 2016 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for primary Sjögren's syndrome.
  2. Disease activity score (ESSDAI) ≥5.
  3. Positive for anti-SSA/Ro antibodies.

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc):

  1. Meets the 2013 EULAR/ACR classification criteria for systemic sclerosis.
  2. Classified by Leroy and Medsger as limited or diffuse cutaneous subsets.
  3. At screening, mRSS >10; and/or active interstitial lung disease (ILD), defined as: High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) showing ground-glass opacities. Pulmonary function tests (FVC or DLCO) \<70% of predicted values.

Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies (IIM):

  1. Meets the 2017 EULAR/ACR classification criteria for inflammatory myopathies (including dermatomyositis, polymyositis, antisynthetase syndrome, and necrotizing myopathy).
  2. For patients with muscle involvement: a. MMT-8 score \<142 and at least two abnormal findings among the following core measures: PhGA or PtGA scores ≥2. Extramuscular disease activity score ≥2. HAQ total score ≥0.25. Muscle enzyme levels ≥1.5 times the upper normal limit. b. Alternatively, MMT-8 ≥142 but with active ILD (HRCT showing ground-glass opacities).
  3. Positive for myositis-specific antibodies.

ANCA-Associated Vasculitis (AAV):

  1. Meets the 2022 ACR/EULAR diagnostic criteria for ANCA-associated vasculitis, including microscopic polyangiitis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, or eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.
  2. Positive for ANCA antibodies (current or historical).
  3. Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) ≥15 (out of 63), indicating active vasculitis.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Subjects with a history of alcohol abuse or substance abuse within the past 24 weeks;
  2. Subjects with other psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia or major depressive disorder;
  3. Subjects with a history of other than B-cell lymphoma;
  4. Subjects with overlapping diseases that affect the assessment of disease activity;
  5. Subjects with infections such as (HIV), hypogammaglobulinemia, T-cell deficiency virus infection, or chronic or C;
  6. Subjects with known active tuberculosis (TB) infection or bacterial infections;
  7. Subjects with a history of myocardial infarction, cardiac angioplasty or stent placement, unstable angina, active arrhythmia, or other heart diseases within 6 months prior to screening;
  8. Subjects with a history of symptomatic deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism within 6 months prior to screening;
  9. Subjects with (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), or alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels ≥3×, or >1.5×ULN, excluding abnormalities caused by theautoimmune disease;
  10. Subjects with chronic kidney failure stage 4 or above, defined as an estimated (eGFR) \<30 mL/min/1.73 m² or serum creatinine >2.5 mg/dL;
  11. At the screening visit, subjects with any of the following significant hematologic abnormalities caused by bone marrow suppression, excluding abnormalities due to the disease:

    1. \<70 g/L;
    2. \<500/mm³;
    3. count \<50,000/mm³;
  12. Subjects with a history of severe adverse reactions to cyclophosphamide or fludarabine;
  13. Subjects with a prior history of CAR-T therapy;
  14. Subjects who received within 30 days prior to CAR-T cell infusion;
  15. Subjects deemed unsuitable for participation in the study by the investigator.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(19)

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.

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.

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.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

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.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

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.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

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.

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.

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.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

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.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Live vaccines

Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
9 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    anti-CD19 CAR-T (UWD-CD19)

    Biological: anti-CD19 CAR-T cells

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Evaluate the safety of UWD-CD19 cell injection in the treatment of refractory autoimmune diseases.

    In this study, adverse events (AEs) are defined as any adverse medical events occurring from the initiation of lymphodepleting chemotherapy to 12 months after the completion of QH103 cell infusion. The incidence, duration, severity, and management of all adverse events occurring after the participants' enrollment will be recorded and evaluated.Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) will be graded according to the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) criteria. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) will be graded based on the criteria defined by the Mount Sinai Acute GVHD International Consortium. Other AEs will be graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE, v5.0)

    Time frame: 0-6 months

  2. Maximum tolerated dose of UWD-CD19 cells

    Dose-limiting toxicity after cell infusion

    Time frame: 28 days

Secondary outcomes

  1. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI-2000) score

    The change from baseline in the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI-2000) score at 90 days, 180 days, 360 days.

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  2. Low Lupus Disease Activity State(LLDAS)

    SLE patients who met Low Lupus Disease Activity State(LLDAS)

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  3. Systemic Sclerosis Combined Response Index (CRISS) response

    Patients achieve Systemic Sclerosis Combined Response Index (CRISS) response. A responder meets all of the following criteria; otherwise, they are classified as a non-responder. a. Improvement in at least two aspects (≥ 5% increase in ppFVC and/or ≥ 25% decrease in mRSS, HAQ-DI, PtGA, or PhGA); b. Worsening in no more than one aspect (≥ 5% decrease in ppFVC and/or ≥ 25% increase in mRSS, HAQ-DI, PtGA, or PhGA); c. No significant new SSc-related manifestations.

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  4. Modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS)

    The changes from baseline in the modified Rodnan Skin Score (mRSS).

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  5. Vasculitis disease activity assessment (BVAS score)

    The changes from baseline in vasculitis disease activity assessment (BVAS score) for patients with AAV.

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  6. EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI)

    The changes from baseline in the EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI).

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  7. PhGA in patients with inflammatory myopathies

    The changes from baseline in PhGA in patients with inflammatory myopathies

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  8. PtGA in patients with inflammatory myopathies

    The changes from baseline in PtGA in patients with inflammatory myopathies

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  9. HAQ score in patients with inflammatory myopathies

    The changes from baseline in HAQ score in patients with inflammatory myopathies.

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  10. Extramuscular disease activity score

    The change from baseline in Extramuscular disease activity score in patients with inflammatory myopathies

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  11. Muscle enzyme levels

    The changes from baseline in muscle enzyme levels in patients with inflammatory myopathies

    Time frame: 90 days, 180 days, 360 days

  12. PK parameters-Cmax

    Peak concentration (Cmax) in the CAR gene copy number after infusion of QH103

    Time frame: 0-3 months

  13. PK parameters-Cmax

    Peak concentration in CAR-T cell count in peripheral blood

    Time frame: 0-3 months

  14. PK parameters-Tmax

    Time to peak in the CAR gene copy number after infusion of QH103

    Time frame: 0-3 months

  15. PK parameters-Tmax

    Time to peak in CAR-T cell count in peripheral blood after infusion of QH103

    Time frame: 0-3 months

  16. PK parameters- AUC0-M3

    Area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 3 months (AUC0-M3) in the CAR gene copy number

    Time frame: 0-3 months

  17. PK parameters-AUC0-M3

    Area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 3 months (AUC0-M3) in CAR-T cell count in peripheral blood

    Time frame: 0-3 months

07

Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided — This issue has not been decided yet.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 23, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06821659
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 12, 2025
Start date
Nov 1, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 23, 2026

Study contacts

Xiaoying Zhang
Contact
zhang_xiaoying@pku.edu.cn
86+13810001444
Xiaoying Zhang
Contact

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

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Discussion

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Studies of the drug tested here: Anti-CD19 CAR T Cells Preparation

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