Recent Articles in Cell & Gene Therapy

Boston’s Nona Biosciences, an antibody discovery CMO, will integrate GeneQuantum’s novel bioconjugate discovery platforms to advance discovery of next-generation bioconjugates. GeneQuantum, a Suzhou biotech, claims to be a pioneer in using enzymatic site-specific conjugation technology to develop ADC drugs. The company has developed the iLDC (intelligent Ligase-dependent Conjugation) and iGDC (intelligent Glycotransferase-dependent conjugation) platforms, which will be combined with Nona Biosciences' Harbour Mice® platform. Nona Biosciences is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HBM Holdings (HK: 02142) that offers integrated antibody discovery services from discovery to preclinical testing. More details....

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Legend Biotech (NASDAQ: LEGN), a New Jersey-Nanjing CAR-T biotech, partnered its DLL3 (delta-like ligand 3) CAR-T candidates to Novartis in a $1.2 billion agreement ($100 million upfront). Legend will start a US trial of LB2102 in patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. Novartis will own worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the DLL3 group of cell therapies, and it may use its T-Charge™ platform to manufacture the candidates. In 2017, Legend, then a Genscript subsidiary headquartered in Nanjing, stunned the world when its BCMA CAR-T produced a better than 90% response in pretreated multiple myeloma patients. More details....

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Sirius Therapeutics filed to begin a first-in-human clinical trial in Australia of SRSD107, its next-gen siRNA therapy aimed at preventing and treating thromboembolic disorders. SRSD107 is a novel double-stranded small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) that targets coagulation factor XI (FXI) mRNA and inhibits FXI protein expression, blocking the coagulation pathway and promoting anticoagulant/anti-thrombotic effects. In preclinical in vivo tests, a single subcutaneous dose showed near 100% reduction of FXI levels for up to six months without bleeding events. Founded in 2021, Sirius has a discovery center in San Diego and a translational medicine center in Shanghai. More details....

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Suzhou Porton Advanced will partner with BioMap, an AI company that has developed the Xtrimo platform that offers Large Language Models to predict the behavior of proteins. The collaboration will use Porton Advanced's novel Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) vector technology platform and relevant research data to develop AAV assembly efficiency models and an assembly distribution model. The two companies plan to build large-scale life science models that speed up the integration of experimental platforms and intelligent big data analysis platforms. BioMap is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA with operations in Singapore, Beijing and Suzhou. More details....

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Lerna Biopharma, a Singapore, Boston, Shanghai company, will present its lead drug, a first-in-class siRNA that promotes liver regeneration in patients at risk for liver failure. The candidate, LR1, takes advantage of the liver’s ability to heal itself, a long-sought goal. In preclinical testing, LR1 improved liver function and protected the liver from further degeneration. Lerna discovered the novel target using its Quartz platform, which discovers novel targets that are usually unavailable but can be addressed by siRNA technology. Lerna will describe the novel siRNA candidate at a Boston scientific convention, The Liver Meeting, later this week. More details...

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