12.19.14
Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. and Conkwest, Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement to jointly develop next generation CAR-TNK immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. The CAR-TNK technology platform combines Conkwest's Neukoplast cell line with Sorrento's G-MAB fully human antibody technology and CAR designs to enhance potency and targeting of Neukoplast.
The companies will focus on accelerating the development of CAR-TNKs for the treatment of hematological malignancies as well as solid tumors and will jointly own and share development costs and revenues from any CAR-TNK products. Also, Sorrento will make a $9 million equity investment in Conkwest and provide $2 million in research payments for the development of novel CAR-TNK cell lines.
"We are extremely pleased with this strategic collaboration with Conkwest", said Dr. Henry Ji, president and chief executive officer of Sorrento. "With Sorrento's expertise in antibody technology and diverse portfolio of fully human antibodies obtained from the G-MAB library, we believe we will be able to generate an army of stable CAR-TNK cell-lines, including but not limited to CD19-CAR-TNK™, PDL1-CAR-TNK™, PSMA-CAR-TNK™, and CD123-CAR-TNK™. It is our goal to rapidly move several of our CAR-TNK cell lines into the clinic to offer patients suffering from hematological malignancies and solid tumors an innovative immunotherapy to fight their cancers."
"Conkwest has made important strides in establishing the safety and anti-cancer activity of Neukoplast in both preclinical and clinical phase I trials" said Dr. Barry Simon, president and chief executive officer of Sorrento of Conkwest. "We have also unlocked the potential of CAR-modified Neukoplast cells in preclinical models. By drawing from Sorrento's treasure trove of CARs derived from their G-MAB library, we believe this partnership will enable us to realize an important part of our vision of designing and commercializing next generation Neukoplast products re-engineered to express one or more proprietary CARs that would matter most to disease outcomes."
The companies will focus on accelerating the development of CAR-TNKs for the treatment of hematological malignancies as well as solid tumors and will jointly own and share development costs and revenues from any CAR-TNK products. Also, Sorrento will make a $9 million equity investment in Conkwest and provide $2 million in research payments for the development of novel CAR-TNK cell lines.
"We are extremely pleased with this strategic collaboration with Conkwest", said Dr. Henry Ji, president and chief executive officer of Sorrento. "With Sorrento's expertise in antibody technology and diverse portfolio of fully human antibodies obtained from the G-MAB library, we believe we will be able to generate an army of stable CAR-TNK cell-lines, including but not limited to CD19-CAR-TNK™, PDL1-CAR-TNK™, PSMA-CAR-TNK™, and CD123-CAR-TNK™. It is our goal to rapidly move several of our CAR-TNK cell lines into the clinic to offer patients suffering from hematological malignancies and solid tumors an innovative immunotherapy to fight their cancers."
"Conkwest has made important strides in establishing the safety and anti-cancer activity of Neukoplast in both preclinical and clinical phase I trials" said Dr. Barry Simon, president and chief executive officer of Sorrento of Conkwest. "We have also unlocked the potential of CAR-modified Neukoplast cells in preclinical models. By drawing from Sorrento's treasure trove of CARs derived from their G-MAB library, we believe this partnership will enable us to realize an important part of our vision of designing and commercializing next generation Neukoplast products re-engineered to express one or more proprietary CARs that would matter most to disease outcomes."