Imugene, Ltd. and Kincell Bio entered a strategic manufacturing and process development partnership, which includes the sale of Imugene’s North Carolina cGMP manufacturing facility and the transfer of process and analytical development activities to Kincell.
 
Under the agreement Kincell will acquire Imugene’s cGMP compliant cell therapy manufacturing facility in North Carolina for a total consideration of up to $6 million in upfront and milestone payments. Also, under a manufacturing supply agreement Kincell will manufacture Imugene’s Azer-cel to support ongoing clinical trials. Imugene will also transfer process and analytical development of Azer-cel to Kincell in order to support process and method optimization for commercial readiness.
 
The 32,800-sq.-ft. facility is designed with the flexibility to expand in capacity and scope to support the manufacture of cell-based therapies. Kincell intends to evolve the site capabilities while leveraging enterprise-wide expertise to manufacture a broad portfolio of autologous and allogeneic products.
 
Leslie Chong, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Imugene, said, “We are confident that this strategic partnership with Kincell will enable Imugene to reach key upcoming data inflection points and extend the company’s cash runway to 2026. Moreover, this partnership allows us to focus on our key capabilities, namely the development of novel cancer treatments. With the transaction, we look forward to continuing to work with many of our former manufacturing colleagues in a new relationship as our contract development and manufacturing organization partner.”
 
Bruce Thompson, CEO of Kincell, said, “The acquisition of this facility and experienced team, which is actively manufacturing CGMP-compliant products that can support late-stage and/or pivotal clinical trials, accelerates our ability to expand our service offerings for cell therapy developers. The facility’s location in Research Triangle Park (RTP) will facilitate access to talent in a fast-growing and attractive biotech hub. Additionally, we’re excited that the manufacturing supply agreement enables us to partner with Imugene, an innovative immunotherapy company, to optimize and progress an allogeneic CAR T product candidate into later-stage development for patients with significant unmet medical needs.”