On September 20, 2021 Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. ("Oncternal") (Nasdaq: ONCT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel oncology therapies, and Celularity Inc. ("Celularity") (Nasdaq: CELU), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf placental-derived allogeneic therapies, reported they have entered into a research collaboration to evaluate placental derived-cellular therapies targeting receptor-tyrosine kinase-like Orphan Receptor 1 (ROR1) (Press release, Oncternal Therapeutics, SEP 20, 2021, View Source [SID1234588001]). As part of the collaboration, Celularity will explore the use of Oncternal’s ROR1-targeted monoclonal antibody, cirmtuzumab, in combination with Celularity’s natural killer cells. ROR1 targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) gene modification will also be explored in Celularity’s CYNK natural killer cell and CyCART T cell platforms in preclinical studies.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
ROR1 is highly expressed by multiple solid tumors and hematological malignancies and confers both an aggressive phenotype and survival advantage to the tumor cells. Cirmtuzumab binding to ROR1 on leukemia and lymphoma cells decreases tumor cell proliferation and survival by blocking Wnt5a-induced activation, while it does not bind to adult tissues. Celularity will evaluate the use of cirmtuzumab in combination with CYNK-101, a placental derived-allogeneic NK cell therapy that has been genetically engineered to synergize with therapeutic antibodies. As part of the collaboration, Celularity will also evaluate ROR1-targeted CAR-NK and CAR-T cell therapies as extensions of its CYNK and CyCART programs, respectively.
"Our research studying ROR1 suggests the potential for a range of new targeted therapeutics, capable of addressing a wide variety of both solid tumors and hematological malignancies," said James Breitmeyer, M.D., Ph.D., founder, President and CEO of Oncternal. "We believe that targeted cellular therapies have the potential to extend the clinical benefit of our research and improve the standard of care for patients. However, the current limitations in efficacy, safety and availability of cellular therapies hinders their broader use. Celularity’s approach, leveraging the ability of placental-derived cells to differentiate and expand, has the potential to overcome these obstacles and could potentially offer more potent, tolerable and accessible cellular medicines and, in combination with our ROR1 targeting antibodies, address the significant unmet needs of patients."
Robert J. Hariri, M.D., Ph.D., founder, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of Celularity, added, "We are thrilled to enter this partnership with Oncternal to forge new therapeutic strategies for both solid tumors and hematological malignancies using our allogeneic placental-derived cell therapy product candidates with their innate stemness. Oncternal’s work has established ROR1 as an exciting target that could be utilized for the development of new and novel cellular medicines, and there is an immense potential for synergy combining two novel approaches to create exciting new pipeline candidates targeting a wide range of cancers. We look forward to working closely together to lead the next evolution of cellular medicines."