James Kochenderfer

James Kochenderfer developed the anti-CD19 CAR-T cell therapy at the National Cancer Institute that became the basis for axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta), and subsequently pioneered BCMA-targeted CAR-T cells for multiple myeloma that led to the development of idecabtagene vicleucel (Abecma). His clinical trials demonstrated the remarkable efficacy of CAR-T cells in aggressive lymphoma and multiple myeloma, leading to multiple FDA approvals that transformed the treatment of these diseases. He is a rare investigator whose work has directly produced two distinct FDA-approved CAR-T products targeting different antigens in different cancer types.