Abstract: Introduction Detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) is an important predictor of patient outcome following treatment of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). We assessed concordance between two MRD assays, with different assay sensitivities, to determine which MRD detection method could support early relapse detection. Immunoglobulin next generation sequencing (Ig NGS) and flow cytometry (FC) were tested in samples from two clinical trials ELIANA (NCT02435849) and ENSIGN (NCT02228096) for pediatric relapsed and refractory B-ALL patients treated with tisagenlecleucel. We also assessed whether using blood with Ig NGS would be comparable to BM testing with FC. Finally we analyzed whether clonal evolution, as detected by Ig NGS, occurred during of the course of therapy for both CD19+ and CD19- relapse patients. Methods In this analysis, bone marrow and peripheral blood specimens at screening (pre-tisagenlecleucel infusion), post-infusion and relapse were tested. Ig NGS was performed in 300 samples from 88 patients. 237 samples from 83 patients also had FC MRD results available. MRD was measured on fresh blood and bone marrow using a 3-tube FC assay (CD10, CD19, CD13, CD20, CD22, CD33, CD34, CD38, CD45, CD58, CD123). The FC MRD assay has a lower limit of sensitivity of 0.01% of white blood cells. Ig NGS detection of MRD was performed using the Adaptive Biotechnology's NGS MRD assay. MRD quantitative values, along with the qualitative MRD calls at each assay sensitivity level (10-4, 10-5 and 10-6) were reported. At baseline, 85 out of 88 samples had informative clones. Results and Conclusions To examine the comparability of flow cytometry and Ig NGS methods in assessing MRD, baseline and post-treatment samples were tested. Baseline samples, which had a high disease burden, showed 100% MRD concordance between both assays. However, post-treatment, where the leukemic burden was dramatically reduced, Ig NGS detected a greater number of MRD positive samples compared to FC, at each sensitivity level tested (10-4, 10-5 and 10-6). At the highest sensitivity level of 10-6, Ig NGS was able to detect 18% more MRD positive post-treatment samples. Importantly, Ig NGS was able to detect MRD positivity 1-4 months ahead of clinical relapse in a small number of relapsed patients, whether relapse was CD19+ or CD19-. This may provide an important window of opportunity for pre-emptive treatment while a patients' tumor burden is still low. In B-ALL, it has previously been described that MRD levels can be one to three logs lower in blood compared to bone marrow (VanDongen JJ et al. Blood 2015). Our results support these findings whereby MRD burden in bone marrow was higher than in blood using both FC and Ig NGS. We next set out to determine if the increased sensitivity afforded by the Ig NGS assay could provide a level of MRD detection in the blood comparable to FC in the bone marrow. In patients with matching data available, Ig NGS was able to detect more MRD positive blood samples than FC MRD positive bone marrow samples. This suggests that monitoring of MRD using Ig NGS in the blood holds the potential to be used as a surrogate for FC MRD in bone marrow. The relationship between MRD and prognosis was examined. Patients who were MRD negative by both Ig NGS and FC at the end of first month post-infusion had better progression-free survival and overall survival compared to those with detectable MRD. Tumor clonality will be further analyzed to understand sub-clone composition at baseline and clonal evolution following tisagenlecleucel treatment. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of using a highly sensitive assay, such as Ig NGS, when monitoring for MRD. MRD detection by Ig NGS holds the potential to identify early response/relapse in patients, which could provide a window of opportunity for additional intervention before morphological relapse. Ongoing studies with larger patient groups will provide further information on the applicability of Ig NGS MRD detection and its association with long-term outcome in tisagenlecleucel-treated pediatric r/r B-ALL patients. Disclosures Pulsipher: Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau; CSL Behring: Consultancy; Amgen: Honoraria; Adaptive Biotech: Consultancy, Research Funding. Han:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Quigley:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Kari:Adaptimmune LLC: Other: previous employment within 2 years; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Rives:Shire: Consultancy, Other: Symposia, advisory boards ; Amgen: Consultancy, Other: advisory board ; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Other: Symposia, advisory boards ; Jazz Pharma: Consultancy, Other: Symposia, advisory boards . Laetsch:Bayer: Consultancy; Eli Lilly: Consultancy; Pfizer: Equity Ownership; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy; Loxo Oncology: Consultancy. Myers:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Qayed:Novartis: Consultancy. Stefanski:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Baruchel:Shire: Research Funding; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Amgen: Consultancy; Servier: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodations or expenses; Celgene: Consultancy. Bader:Cellgene: Consultancy; Riemser: Research Funding; Medac: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Neovii: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Yi:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Kalfoglou:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Robins:Adaptive Biotechnologies: Consultancy, Employment, Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties. Yusko:Adaptive Biotechnologies: Employment, Equity Ownership. Görgün:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Bleickardt:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Wong:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment, Equity Ownership. Grupp:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Research Funding; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Adaptimmune: Consultancy; University of Pennsylvania: Patents & Royalties.

Abstract: Hereditary predisposition has been ever since implicated in the etiology of childhood myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Until recently, GATA2 deficiency prevailed as a major germline cause in pediatric primary MDS. In the past 2 years, we and others identified germline mutations in paralogue genes SAMD9 and SAMD9L residing on chromosome 7q21.2 as new systemic diseases with high propensity for MDS with monosomy 7. Although initially, mutations in SAMD9 and SAMD9L genes were associated with MIRAGE and Ataxia-Pancytopenia syndromes, respectively, with recent reports the phenotypes are becoming more intertwined. Nevertheless, the predisposition to MDS with monosomy 7 (-7) remains a common clinical denominator. Both genes are categorized as negative regulators of cellular proliferation and mutations were shown to be activating. Because of their high evolutionary divergence, classical in silico prediction is erratic, thereby establishing in vitro testing as the current gold standard for pathogenicity evaluation. The objectives of this study were to define the prevalence of SAMD9/9L germline mutations in primary pediatric MDS, and to describe the clinical phenotype and outcome. In addition, we aimed to characterize the somatic mutational architecture and develop a functional scoring system. Within the cohort of 548 children and adolescents with primary MDS diagnosed between 1998 and 2016 in Germany, 43 patients (8%) carried SAMD9/9L mutations that were mutually exclusive with GATA2 deficiency and known constitutional bone marrow (BM) failure. MDS type refractory cytopenia of childhood was diagnosed in 91% (39/43), and MDS with excess blasts in 9% (4/43) of mutated cases. Karyotype at diagnosis was normal in 58%, and -7 was detected in 37% of SAMD9/9L cohort. Within MDS subgroup with -7 (n=74), SAMD9/9L mutations accounted for 22% of patients. Notably, the demographics, familial disease, diagnostic blood and BM findings, overall survival (OS) and the outcome after HSCT were not influenced by mutational status in our study cohort (n=548). At the last follow up, 88% (38/43) of SAMD9/9L MDS patients were alive; 35/43 had been transplanted with a 5-year-OS of 85%. Next, we added 26 additional cases with SAMD9/9L mutations diagnosed in Europe within EWOG-MDS studies. In the total cohort of 69 germline mutated patients we found a total of 75 SAMD9/9L mutations, of which 67 were novel. Of those we tested 47 using a HEK293 cell in vitro system and 45/47 mutants inhibited proliferation. While 53/69 patients carried only single germline mutations (missense in 50/53 and truncating in 3/53), in the remaining 16 patients, 11 additional truncating and 7 missense mutations were found. We did not observe an association between germline mutation and phenotype. Immunological issues (e.g. recurring infections, low Ig) were described in 32%/50% of SAMD9/9L-mutated patients, while physical anomalies were very heterogeneous and reported in ~50% of patients in both mutational groups. Intriguingly, genital phenotypes occurred in 40% of SAMD9L, while neurological problems were present in 30% of SAMD9 - mutational subgroups. To elucidate the somatic mutational landscape, we performed whole exome and deep sequencing of 58 SAMD9/9L patients and identified recurrent somatic mutations in known oncogenes that were earlier associated with pediatric MDS: SETBP1 (10%), RUNX1 (7%), ASXL1 (5%), EZH2 (5%), CBL (3%). The identified somatic mutations occurred in association with monosomy 7 background (18/20). Finally, we utilized the results from functional testing of the 47 SAMD9/9L variants as our test cohort to develop combinatorial in silico scoring. The rationale was to decrease the dependency on functional validation. Based on the results of 20 in silico tools we could concatenate a matrix of 5 algorithms to resolve the pathogenicity of 〉 80% of variants. Using this model, all variants predicted as pathogenic showed also growth-restrictive effect in vitro. In summary, pathogenic SAMD9/9L germline mutations account for 8% of primary pediatric MDS and 22% of MDS/-7. The mutations identified are heterogeneous and their effect can be predicted using a combinatorial in silico - in vitro approach. Finally, the clinical outcome and somatic mutational landscape are not influenced by the mutational status. Disclosures Locatelli: Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; bluebird bio: Consultancy; Miltenyi: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Niemeyer:Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Abstract: Introduction: Since the seminal paper of LeBlanc in 2008, despite several negative studies, the scientific community has retained optimism with respect to the usefulness of mesenchymal stroma cells (MSCs) in refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). A prevailing theme of past studies was that, while pediatric GvHD responded to MSCs, adult GvHD did not. As reported, we developed proprietary protocols GMP-quality MSC production from bone marrow (BM) mononuclear cells expanded in platelet lysate-enriched media. Patients and Methods: We present treatment data with MSC-FFM for 61 children/adolescents and 31 adults with either "only" steroid-refractory (SR) GvHD (27%) or GvHD which had additionally proven refractory to up to five additional lines of therapy (MR-GvHD) (73%). Pediatric patients tended to have more MR-GvHD than adults. Patients from 23 centers in 6 countries were included. Most patients had severe GvHD (37% °III, 59% °IV, Glucksberg scale). 31 patients (34%) were female,61 male (66%). 69 have a malignant disease (75%), and 23 a non-malignant (25%) disease as indication for transplantation. Donors were MSD (n=21, 23%), MUD (n=56, 61%), haploidentical (n=14, 15%), and 1 MMUD (1%). Patients received myeloablative conditioning with TBI-, Treosulfan-, Busulfan- and Fludarabine-based regimen, with serotherapy, mostly ATG. 89% of patients had had immunosuppression for GvHD prophylaxis, 13% CSA alone, 49% CSA+MTX or MMF; or others (n=15, 16%). Median onset of aGvHD was at 40 days (range: 6-280 d), another 28 days (range: 5-380) until the first infusion of MSC-FFM. Recommended dose and interval is 4 weekly doses of 1-2M MSC/kg body weight; the average patient received only 3 doses, the interval approximately staggered as recommended, with a median dose of 1.4M MSC/kg. Any reduction in GvHD activity by at least one full grade was classified as a partial (PR), absence of any degree of GvHD as a complete response (CR). Results: Day-28 response rates were 84%/25%/59% overall (OR)/CR/PR for children and 80%/35%/45% for adults resulting in a day-28 response rate for the entire cohort: 82%/28%/54%). At last follow-up (LFU) many of the pediatric responders had continued to improve from partial to complete response to response rates of 84%/59%/25% OR/CR/PR, in adults responses were largely unchanged (77%/35%/42%; LFU for the entire cohort: 81%/51%/30%). GvHD °III and °IV were equally likely to respond or resolve. Looking at response rates of SR- vs. MR-GvHD, of the SR-GvHD 96% responded (MR-GvHD: 81%), as well as early and LFU responses in SR-GvHD were more likely to be complete responses (60% and 72% for SR-GvHD, 16% and 43% for MR-GvHD, day-28 and LFU, respectively). Day-28-response was highly predictive of long-term responsiveness, in that only one non-responder on day 28 achieved a response long term, and only two initial partial responders' GvHD relapsed to the same degree of severity as before MSC treatment. The historical expected survival probability for patients with steroid-refractory severe GvHD being in the order of 20% at 6 months. The patients reported here with °III or °IV aGVHD achieved 6-month overall survival probabilities of 65% and 61%, respectively. In total 6 patients relapsed and died (of note: only 69 patients were at risk), 28 deaths were treatment-related. 6-month overall survival rates for children and adults were 68% and 54%, respectively (n.s.). In terms of adverse reactions to MSC-FFM, one case each of spontaneously remitting headache and nausea/vomiting were reported shortly after infusion of the thawed cells. Both events occurred in children and were possibly related to the rapid infusion of DMSO-containing ice-cold fluid and not the active substance. Conclusion: MSC-FFM emanates as a highly efficacious treatment for severe pediatric and adult advanced GvHD, with OR in excess of 80% and survival rates approximating those of patients without GvHD. The very low relapse mortality may suggest that severe GvHD effectively suppresses leukemic recurrence. Better and faster responses of SR- vs. MR-GvHD make a case for early treatment with MSC-FFM. Disclosures Bader: Medac: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Cellgene: Consultancy; Neovii: Research Funding; Riemser: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Kuci:Medac: Patents & Royalties. Kuci:Medac: Patents & Royalties. Bug:Amgen: Honoraria; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Other: Travel Grant; Neovii: Other: Travel Grant; Astellas Pharma: Other: Travel Grant; Janssen: Other: Travel Grant; Celgene: Honoraria; Novartis Pharma: Honoraria, Research Funding. Lang:Miltenyi Biotec: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding. Sykora:Aventis-Behring: Research Funding; medac: Research Funding. Seifried:Medac: Other: BSD owns IP and is contract manufacturer; Uniqure BV: Research Funding. Bonig:Kiadis Pharma: Consultancy.

Abstract: BACKGROUND Tisagenlecleucel is an FDA approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy that reprograms T cells to eliminate CD19+ B cells. ELIANA (NCT02435849) is a phase 2 pivotal study of tisagenlecleucel in pediatric/young adult patients (pts) with CD19+ r/r B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the first global trial of a CAR-T cell therapy. The primary objective was met, with an overall remission rate (ORR) of 81% (complete remission [CR] + CR with incomplete blood count recovery [CRi] ). Here we present an update of ELIANA, with additional pts and additional 11 mo follow-up from the previous report (Maude et al. N Engl J Med 2018). METHODS Eligible pts were aged ≥3 y at screening and ≤21 y at diagnosis and had ≥5% leukemic blasts in bone marrow. Tisagenlecleucel was centrally manufactured at 2 sites (Morris Plains, NJ, USA and Leipzig, Germany) by lentiviral transduction of autologous T cells with a vector encoding for a second generation 4-1BB anti-CD19 CAR and expanded ex vivo. Tisagenlecleucel was provided to pts at 25 study centers in 11 countries on 4 continents using cryopreserved apheresed mononuclear cells, central production facilities, and a global supply chain. The primary endpoint, ORR within 3 mo and maintained for ≥28 d among infused pts, was assessed by an independent review committee. Secondary endpoints included duration of remission (DOR), overall survival (OS), safety, and cellular kinetics. RESULTS As of April 13, 2018, 113 pts were screened and 97 enrolled. There were 8 manufacturing failures (8%) and 10 pts (10%) were not infused due to death or adverse events (AEs). Following lymphodepleting chemotherapy in most pts (76/79; fludarabine/cyclophosphamide [n=75]), 79 pts were infused with a single dose of tisagenlecleucel (median dose, 3.0×106 [range, 0.2-5.4×106] CAR-positive viable T cells/kg), and all had ≥3 mo of follow-up or discontinued earlier (median time from infusion to data cutoff, 24 mo [range, 4.5-35 mo]). Median age was 11 y (range, 3-24 y); 61% of pts had prior hematopoietic stem cell transplant (SCT). Among the 65 pts with CR/CRi, 64 (98%) were MRD- within 3 mo. Median DOR by K-M analysis was not reached (Figure): responses were ongoing in 29 pts (max DOR, 29 mo and ongoing); 19 pts relapsed before receiving additional anticancer therapy (13 died subsequently); 8 pts underwent SCT while in remission, 8 received additional anticancer therapy (non-SCT) and 1 discontinued while in remission. The probability of relapse-free survival at 18 mo was 66% (95% CI, 52%-77%). Median OS was not reached; OS probability at 18 mo was 70% (95% CI, 58%-79%). Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurred in 77% of pts (grade [G] 3/4; 48%; graded using the Penn scale); 39% of pts received tocilizumab for treatment of CRS with or without other anti-cytokine therapies; 48% of pts required ICU-level care for CRS, with a median ICU stay of 7 d. All cases of CRS were reversible. Most common G 3/4 nonhematologic AEs ( 〉 15%) other than CRS were neutropenia with a body temperature 〉 38.3°C (62% within 8 wk of infusion), hypoxia (20%), and hypotension (20%). 13% of pts experienced G 3 neurological events, with no G 4 events or cerebral edema. Based on laboratory results, 43% and 54% of pts had G 3/4 thrombocytopenia and neutropenia not resolved by d 28; the majority of events resolved to G ≤2 by 3 mo. 25 post-infusion deaths were reported: 2 within 30 d (1 disease progression, 1 cerebral hemorrhage); 23 after 30 d of infusion (range, 53-859 d; 18 disease progression, 1 each due to encephalitis, systemic mycosis, VOD [hepatobiliary disorders related to allogeneic-SCT], bacterial lung infection, and an unknown reason after study withdrawal). Tisagenlecleucel expansion in vivo correlated with CRS severity, and persistence of tisagenlecleucel along with B-cell aplasia in peripheral blood was observed for ≥2.5 y in some responding pts. Analysis of B-cell recovery and correlation with relapse will be presented. CONCLUSIONS With longer follow-up, the ELIANA study continues to confirm the efficacy of a single infusion of tisagenlecleucel in pediatric and young adults with ALL without additional therapy. AEs were effectively and reproducibly managed globally by appropriately trained personnel at study sites. The achievement of high overall response rates and deep remissions, in combination with the median duration of response and overall survival not being reached, further corroborate previously reported results. Figure. Figure. Disclosures Grupp: Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Research Funding; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy; Adaptimmune: Consultancy; University of Pennsylvania: Patents & Royalties. Maude:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Rives:Shire: Consultancy, Other: Symposia, advisory boards ; Jazz Pharma: Consultancy, Other: Symposia, advisory boards ; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Other: Symposia, advisory boards ; Amgen: Consultancy, Other: advisory board . Baruchel:Celgene: Consultancy; Amgen: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: Travel, accommodations or expenses; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Shire: Research Funding; Servier: Consultancy. Bittencourt:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Honoraria. Bader:Riemser: Research Funding; Cellgene: Consultancy; Medac: Patents & Royalties, Research Funding; Neovii: Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Speakers Bureau. Laetsch:Bayer: Consultancy; Pfizer: Equity Ownership; Eli Lilly: Consultancy; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy; Loxo Oncology: Consultancy. Stefanski:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Myers:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau. Qayed:Novartis: Consultancy. Pulsipher:CSL Behring: Consultancy; Amgen: Honoraria; Adaptive Biotech: Consultancy, Research Funding; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria, Speakers Bureau. Martin:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Research Funding; Jazz Pharmaceuticals: Research Funding. Nemecek:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Other: advisory boards. Boissel:Servier: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Leung:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Eldjerou:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Yi:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment. Mueller:Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research: Employment; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Equity Ownership, Other: Patent pending. Bleickardt:Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation: Employment.