Regenerative Medicine

Regulators in both the US and Europe are preparing for the first submissions of a new class of cancer drugs that have been shown to vanquish cancer in some patients b

Cell Medica Ltd has expanded an existing partnership with the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, US to develop allogeneic cell therapies based on engineered immune cells generated from healthy donors. The cells are invariant natural killer T (NKT) cells.

If the cell therapy industry were a housing project, then arguably it would be at the construction stage – deciding what materials are needed to make a safe and durable product. Manufacture is a key issue for the industry, but one that is just now being confronted, according to participants at a meeting of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine that took place in London on 3 November.

Two  prominent biotech firms involved in advanced medical therapies are combining their resources to produce four T-cell receptor (TCR) products for treating undisclosed cancers,

The Phacilitate conference on cell and gene therapy in Berlin on 21 to 22 September produced more uplifting statistics about how the new regenerative technologies are enabling patients with refractory disease to gain a new lease on life.

Amgen Inc has signed a research agreement with two Milan-based institutions to develop an ex-vivo gene therapy for cancer. The research will be based on some of the same principles that guided the development of Strimvelis, an ex vivo stem cell gene therapy that was approved by the European Commission in May of this year.

Cell Medica Ltd has strengthened its hand in the field of T cell therapy with a new collaboration around T cell receptor technology. Having recently expanded a partnership with Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, US, and acquired the Delenex Therapeutics AG antibody company in Switzerland, the company has now entered into a partnership with University College London (UCL) to develop genetically engineered T cell receptor products for cancer.

Using a combination of human neural stem cells and 3K3A-APC, a recombinant variant of human activated protein C, researchers have been able to dramatically increase the production of nerve cells in mice with stroke-induced brain damage. The findings were reported on 22 August 2016 in Nature Medicine.

A review of patients who had experienced a stroke and were treated with an experimental stem cell therapy has shown the therapy to be safe and linked to improved neurological function. Data from a two-year follow-up of the patients were published in The Lancet on 20 August.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc said it is ready to respond to the Food and Drug Administration’s partial hold on its proposed pivotal study of a T cell therapy for treating a rare cancer of connective tissue called myxoid round cell liposarcoma.