INDUSTRIAL IMPACT, DIAGNOSTICS
businesswire | March 23, 2023
AbCellera and RQ Bio announced today that they have entered into a strategic collaboration to identify optimal clinical candidates for up to three infectious disease targets selected by RQ Bio, including influenza and cytomegalovirus (CMV). The partnership aims to provide long-lasting infectious diseases medicines to high-risk patients by bringing together RQ Bio’s expertise in infectious diseases and viral evolution with AbCellera’s discovery engine for finding rare, highly potent antibodies.
“We believe antibody therapies have an important role to play in protecting the most clinically at-risk populations from infectious diseases,” said Carl Hansen, Ph.D., founder and CEO of AbCellera. “AbCellera’s discovery engine complements RQ Bio’s capabilities and provides a technology advantage that we believe will help bring new medicines for infectious disease to patients faster.”
“Both RQ Bio and AbCellera have proven track records in developing infectious disease medicines that have a rapid impact on vulnerable patients,” said Hugo Fry, CEO of RQ Bio. “We look forward to working with AbCellera to quickly advance our pipeline of infectious disease medicines for people who are at risk of severe disease or death from viral infections.”
Under the terms of the agreement, RQ Bio has the right to develop and commercialize therapeutic antibodies resulting from the collaboration. AbCellera will receive research payments and is eligible to receive downstream clinical and regulatory milestone payments and royalties on net sales of products.
About AbCellera Biologics Inc.
AbCellera is breaking the barriers of conventional antibody drug discovery to bring better medicines to patients, sooner. AbCellera’s engine integrates expert teams, technology, and facilities with the data science and automation needed to propel antibody-based medicines from target to clinic in nearly every therapeutic area with precision and speed. AbCellera provides innovative biotechs and leading pharmaceutical companies with a competitive advantage that empowers them to move quickly, reduce cost, and tackle the toughest problems in drug development.
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MEDTECH, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
MaxCyte | January 04, 2023
MaxCyte, a leading commercial cell-engineering company, announced the signing of a strategic platform license (SPL) with Catamaran Bio, a biotechnology enterprise creating off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cell therapeutics to cure a wide range of cancers.
While Catamaran acquires non-exclusive clinical and commercial rights to use MaxCyte's Flow Electroporation® technology and ExPERT™ platform per the terms of the agreement, in exchange, MaxCyte will receive platform licensing fees and revenue related to its programs.
Catamaran is actively developing highly potent allogeneic, cryopreserved CAR-NK cell therapeutics using synthetic biology and non-viral cell engineering capable of treating challenging cancers, including solid tumors, by integrating new functional features with the inherent cancer-fighting properties of NK cells. In addition, the company created the TAILWIND® platform, an integrated set of technologies, to engineer, expand, and process NK cells into safe and effective off-the-shelf cell therapy products for numerous cancer types.
The MaxCyte ExPERT™ instrument portfolio is the next generation of clinically verified electroporation technology for complicated and scalable cell creation. The ExPERT™ platform provides the high-end performance required to enable the next era of biological and cellular treatments by delivering high transfection efficiency, seamless scaling, and expanded functionality. MaxCyte's Catamaran agreement is the company's 19th overall SPL.
About MaxCyte
MaxCyte is a prominent commercial cell-engineering firm dedicated to advancing breakthrough cell-based research and next-generation cell therapy discovery, development, and commercialization. Over the years, it has been developing and commercializing its unique Flow Electroporation® platform, which allows for the intricate creation of a wide range of cells. In addition, its ExPERT™ platform, based on its Flow Electroporation technology, has been created to assist the rapidly increasing cell therapy market and can be used across the high-growth cell therapy sector, from discovery and development to commercialization of next-generation cell-based therapies.
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CELL AND GENE THERAPY, INDUSTRIAL IMPACT
The Center for Breakthrough Medicines | March 13, 2023
Nucleus Biologics and Stoic Bio have teamed up to form a supply agreement with the Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM), a contract development and manufacturing organization that aims to accelerate the development and manufacture of advanced therapies. Under the agreement, Nucleus Biologics will become CBM's selected supplier of cell culture media and other biological solutions, ensuring a consistent supply of this critical material with tighter quality control measures.
Nucleus Biologics' approach to cell culture media, which sees it as a critical raw material that can drive desired attributes of cells crucial to the success of cell and gene therapy research, is complementary to CBM's focus on transparency, technology, and end-to-end solutions. By working together, they hope to expedite cell and gene therapy breakthroughs.
In addition, CBM will be an early adopter of Stoic Bio's innovative family of point-of-use media makers, Krakatoa™, which allows scientists to manufacture their own media with 65% fewer CO2 emissions than conventional media. By demonstrating that developing and manufacturing lifesaving therapies doesn't have to come with a high environmental cost, CBM hopes to set an example for the industry.
With over 2,200 cell and gene therapies in development, collaborations like this one are needed to speed up the process of getting these therapies to the clinic and ultimately approved. The CBM, Stoic Bio and Nucleus Biologics collaboration aim to create a unique service offering that introduces a paradigm shift in development and manufacturing, showing how technology and sustainability can converge to make better therapies sustainably.
About The Center for Breakthrough Medicines
The Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM) is a CDMO focused on accelerating the development and manufacture of advanced therapies to save lives. It offers end-to-end solutions such as process development, manufacturing, and quality control for cell and gene therapies, gene editing, and immunotherapies. In addition, CBM collaborates with pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and healthcare providers to make advanced therapies more accessible while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. The company also prioritizes sustainability by implementing green initiatives and sustainable technology and strives to positively impact the communities it operates in.
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