CELL AND GENE THERAPY, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
Aldevron | January 20, 2023
Aldevron®, a worldwide leader in the custom development and production of plasmid DNA, RNA, and proteins for the biotech sector, recently announced the launch of Eureca-V™ nuclease.
Eureca-V™, licensed from Inscripta®, is the wild-type MAD7® CRISPR Type-V nuclease at research grade, with GMP to follow.
The launch of Aldevron's Eureca-V nuclease at advanced therapies week expands the toolkit of accessible CRISPR nucleases for therapeutic, diagnostic, and agricultural workflows. In addition, a pass-through license for research use is conveyed with the purchase of Eureca-V nuclease, allowing customers to thoroughly examine the product without committing to a long-term licensing agreement.
Vice President and General Manager of Aldevron's Protein Business Unit, Tom Foti, said, "The availability of Eureca-V drives forward the entire genomics medicine industry and enhances Aldevron's position as a supplier of choice for CRISPR drug substances and drug products." He added, "We are proud to work alongside our partners at Inscripta to bring the innovative, off-the-shelf catalog product to market now as well as provide a clear path to GMP in 2023."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
Eureca-V at the research grade level ensures the acceleration of CRISPR translational research. In addition, the product will assist academic and commercial scientists seeking a wild-type Type-V CRISPR nuclease that targets T-rich regions of the genome.
Venkata Indurthi, Chief Scientific Officer at Aldevron, expressed, "We are thrilled to offer Eureca-V product at research grade starting today, and later this year, our clients can expect a smooth transition to our GMP product." He further added, "Aldevron's extensive history in CRISPR nucleases allows researchers to develop therapies that will eventually address global health issues."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
It will be the third GMP CRISPR nuclease by Aldevron and the first Type-V nuclease available as a GMP catalog product. It is a leader in supplying vital raw materials and reagents used for cell and gene therapy manufacturing. The company's portfolio of CRISPR nucleases is applied globally in preclinical and clinical research applications.
About Aldevron
Aldevron is a pioneer in advancing biological science. Its custom development and manufacturing services have provided scientists all across the world with the components they need to accelerate research and create labs for revolutionary science and breakthrough discoveries. The company aims to deliver products and services that contribute significantly to global biological research. It seeks to be the partner of choice forproducing high-quality plasmid DNA, proteins, enzymes, and other biologicals to support its clients' goals.
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
Evaxion Biotech A/S | January 23, 2023
Evaxion Biotech A/S, a leading clinical-stage biotechnology firm focused on the development of AI-driven immunotherapies, recently announced that FDA has granted fast-track designation for the Company's customized cancer therapy, EVX-01, in conjunction with KEYTRUDA®.
In December 2022, Evaxion gained FDA clearance to proceed with its phase 2b clinical test, where patients with metastatic melanoma are given EVX-01 in combination with KEYTRUDA®. In addition, Evaxion obtained fast-track designation for the vaccine candidate on January 17, 2023. The fast track is developed to expedite FDA's assessment of innovative, novel medications with the potential to meet an unfulfilled medical need.
EVX-01, a peptide-based immunotherapy for cancer, is Evaxion's most advanced clinical asset. The program generates a unique medicine for each patient based on gene analysis of their malignancies and matching with their immune system. The Company's proprietary AI platform, PIONEER, helps facilitate this process.
Per Norlén, CEO at Evaxion, commented," We are extremely pleased that our cancer vaccine candidate EVX-01 has received the FDA fast track designation, as it enables a potentially faster approval of the vaccine. This is first and foremost to the benefit of the patients. And it is a great validation of our AI platform, PIONEER, and our drug development candidate."
(Source – Globe Newswire)
The ongoing Phase 2b clinical trial is being done at sites in Europe, the United States, and Australia. It is conducted in partnership with Merck, which supplies its PD-1 inhibitor KEYTRUDA®. The trial was launched in Australia when the first patient was enrolled in September 2022.
About Evaxion Biotech A/S
Evaxion is a clinical-stage AI-immunology™ platform company using AI, engineering expertise and drug development knowledge to identify and develop novel immunotherapies for the treatment of various cancers, bacterial diseases and viral infections. It has utilized artificial intelligence to build a diverse pipeline of candidate immunotherapies that target two of the most critical unmet medical needs in the world, cancer and infectious diseases. Its three proprietary AI platforms include PIONEER, EDEN and RAVEN.
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
Sana Biotechnology | January 30, 2023
Sana Biotechnology, Inc., a firm focused on producing and delivering engineered cells as medicines, recently announced that the FDA has approved the company's Investigational New Drug (IND) application to begin a first-in-human trial of SC291 in patients with different types of B-cell malignancies.
SC291 is an allogeneic CAR T cell therapy that targets CD19. It is developed by Sana using its hypoimmune platform. The hypoimmune platform's objective is to overcome the allogeneic cells' immunologic rejection, which, if valid for SC291, could lead to prolonged CAR T cell persistence and increased rates of durable complete responses in patients with B-cell lymphomas or leukemias.
The hypoimmune platform includes disruption of the major histocompatibility (MHC) class I and class II expression to conceal cells from the adaptive immune system, which consists of antibody and T cell responses and overexpression of CD47 to inhibit activation of the innate immune cell system, especially macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells. The company has provided evidence from numerous preclinical models demonstrating the potential of this platform to cloak cells from immune detection and the therapeutic potential of SC291 for patients with B-cell malignancies.
About Sana Biotechnology
Founded in 2018, Sana Biotechnology is a firm focused on utilizing engineered cells as medicines for patients. It is constructing differentiated capabilities across the spectrum of cell and gene therapy. The company is motivated by three goals as it seeks solutions for people with poor outcomes or diseases that are currently incurable. The first is the ability to repair and control the genes in any cell in the body. It is developing innovative delivery technologies in order to deliver any payload to any cell in a precise, predictable, and repeatable manner, paving the way for next-generation in vivo gene therapy. Next comes the ability to develop pluripotent stem cells ex vivo into immune-cloaked functional cells, to replace any missing or damaged cells in the body. Finally, it believes that it can also enable broader access to its therapies by focusing on scalable manufacturing solutions, the manufacturing costs, and aligning with key stakeholders.
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