Regenerative Medicine

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.

Celgene Corp, which only a year ago entered a 10-year collaboration with Juno Therapeutics, has now invested in Jounce Therapeutics Inc which has different technology for stimulating the immune system to fight cancer.

Juno Therapeutics Inc has acquired a Boston, Massachusetts, US biotech company with technology that can potentially disrupt immunosuppressive pathways in the tumour microenvironment of certain cancers. This fits in with its technology for engineering T cells to fight cancer.

Nextech Invest AG, a Zurich, Switzerland-based, oncology fund manager, has closed its fourth fund, Nextech Oncology Fund IV, with an investment of $64 million. The funds were supplied by limited partners based in the US, Europe and Asia.