AGC Biologics, a CDMO expert, has partnered with Quell Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering engineered T-regulatory (Treg) cell therapies, to support the development of multiple Treg cell therapy drug candidates targeting severe immune disorders. AGC Biologics will provide lentiviral vector (LVV) material using its proprietary ProntoLVV platform to prepare these therapies for CTA / IND submissions.

Under this agreement, AGC Biologics’ Milan Cell and Gene Center of Excellence is producing LVV material for Quell Treg cell therapy candidates. With the ProntoLVV platform process, AGC Biologics will integrate Quell’s gene of interest into its standardized production protocols with off-the-shelf starting materials, offering flexibility for both suspension and adhesion systems. This approach helps ensure GMP readiness and a smoother transition to GMP manufacturing and clinical trials.

“Our ProntoLVV platform is well-suited to support Quell in advancing its Treg cell therapies toward clinical trials,” said Luca Alberici, Executive Vice President, Global Cell & Gene Technologies, AGC Biologics. “By combining standardized processes with the strong technical expertise of our scientific teams at the Milan site, we will work closely with our partners at Quell to help them streamline the development of these therapies while delivering the high-quality lentiviral vector material essential for CTA/IND submissions.”

“AGC Biologics provides the reliability, speed and efficiency we need as we prepare our Treg therapies for clinical trials,” said Aaron Vernon, Chief Manufacturing Officer, Quell Therapeutics. “This partnership is critical as we work to address severe immune disorders and bring innovative treatments to patients. We are looking forward to working with the AGC Biologics team of experts to support our programs into clinical development.”

AGC Biologics’ ProntoLVV platform streamlines lentiviral vector production. Standardized procedures reduce the amount of time needed while maintaining flexibility and include high-quality, ready-to-use packaging plasmids, a unique gene transfer system, and the necessary documentation to support regulatory submissions. ProntoLVV includes in-house analytics, and production is scalable, ensuring efficiency from early development all the way through GMP manufacturing and beyond.