Chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy in oncology – Pipeline at a glance: Analysis of the ClinicalTrials.gov database

•We forecast 900 trials in CAR T-cell therapy during 2020–2025.•47 clinical trials use allogeneic products, and we expect this to double by 2025.•48 trials are using dual targeted CAR T-cells aiming to minimize antigen escape.•Phase 3 trials are registered for CD19, BCMA, CD123, and CLL1.•Anti-BCMA CAR T-cell for multiple myeloma could be the next FDA approved product. There is a rapid growth of published data associated with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells, and its evaluation is becoming challenging. We performed a review of the ClinicalTrials.gov database, searching for clinical trials using CAR T-cell therapy in oncology (cut-off December 2019). 593 trials were found. 48 % of trials are from China and 39 % from the USA. 63 % percent focused on hematologic malignancies, while gastrointestinal cancer, breast cancer, and nervous system were the top 3 solid tumors addressed. Common targets in hematologic malignancies are CD19 and BCMA; while mesothelin and CD171 in solid tumors. Second-generation CAR T designs predominate with CD28 or 41BB co-stimulation. Mixed sponsors supported 45 % of trials, and only 19 % received funding exclusively from industry. Current trends suggest that 900 CAR T-cell therapy clinical trials will be registered during 2020–2025. We estimate a two-fold increase in trials that study allogeneic cell products in the next five years.