Prescient Therapeutics Ltd (ASX:PTX) has entered into a five-year manufacturing services agreement with specialist cell therapy manufacturer, Q-Gen Cell Therapeutics, to produce its OmniCAR cell lines for upcoming clinical trials, with initial work now commenced.
Production and delivery will take place at Q-Gen’s dedicated Brisbane facility, which produces autologous and allogeneic cell therapies for local and international pharmaceutical companies and academic research groups.
Technology transfer
Prescient, a clinical stage oncology company developing personalised cancer therapies, has commenced the technology transfer process for OmniCAR-T cell manufacturing, and believes its OmniCAR AML program will likely be the first to enter clinical studies based on the progress made so far.
CAR-T therapies involve isolating T cells from a cancer patient and inserting new genetic material into them so that they express a new chimeric antigen receptor capable of recognising cancer cells, before being re-infused into the patient.
By contrast, OmniCAR T cells will express a universal immune receptor (SpyCatcher), which can bind with any separate SpyTagged targeting ligand, to potentially address any cancer by incorporating binders to any cancer antigen.
The contract covers the transduction of T cells with SpyCatcher lentivirus, arming of OmniCAR T cells with SpyTagged binders, and associated quality measures, as well as incorporating CellPryme-M into the manufacturing process of OmniCAR T cells.
Unique platform
Q-Gen general manager Andrew Masel said: “We are excited to be working with Prescient Therapeutics on what we see as a unique cell therapy platform.
"The team at Q-Gen is looking forward to working closely with Prescient to produce the product for clinical trials here at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.”
Prescient’s CEO and managing director Steven Yatomi-Clarke said: “Prescient is working steadily towards our first in human studies of OmniCAR, which will be an important milestone for the company.
"This important agreement secures Prescient’s crucial supply of OmniCAR cells for our clinical trials and ensures we are producing the best possible cell therapy products for doctors and patients living with hard-to-treat cancers.”
Yatomi-Clarke will host an investor briefing on August 23 at 12.00pm AEST.