On October 4, 2016 Altor BioScience Corporation (Altor), a leading developer of novel cytokine-based immunotherapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases and NantKwest Inc. (Nasdaq: NK), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on harnessing the unique power of off-the-shelf Natural Killer (NK) cells to treat cancer, infectious diseases and inflammatory disorders reported the establishment of a co-development agreement focused on Altor’s lead candidates developed from its proprietary technology platforms, based on cytokines Interleukin-15 (IL-15) and Interleukin-2 (IL-2), that are currently in several Phase 1/2 clinical trials for hematologic and solid tumors (Press release, NantKwest, OCT 4, 2016, http://ir.nantkwest.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254059&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=2209112 [SID1234515586]). Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo! Under the terms of the agreement, Altor and NantKwest will exclusively collaborate on the development of therapeutic applications combining Altor’s proprietary IL-15 superagonist (ALT-803) and its single-chain T cell receptor/IL-2 fusion protein (ALT-801) products with NantKwest’s proprietary NK cell therapy platforms for oncology indications. Financial terms of this co-development are not disclosed.
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Hing C. Wong, Ph.D., Altor’s founder and CEO stated, "This partnership is a significant strategic collaboration for Altor and NantKwest. We believe there are significant opportunities to develop groundbreaking NK cell-based therapies using ALT-803 and ALT-801 in concert with NantKwest’s proprietary NK cell therapy and guided by a comprehensive genomic and proteomic molecular analysis using GPS cancer in the war against cancer. As Altor’s immunotherapeutic platform can play a key role in activating NK and T cells, we are enthusiastic to explore the synergy of this collaboration and rapidly advance clinical evaluation of these combination therapies in patients with cancer. Cell-based therapy combinations with Altor’s proprietary immunotherapeutics are an important component of our corporate strategy and we are excited to participate in the Cancer Moonshot 2020 program and the QUILT trials."
Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., FRCS (C), FACS, NantKwest’s CEO, commented, "Cell based therapies and comprehensive genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of the tumor tissue represents the future of precision immuno-oncology and the opportunity to bring the potential of 21st century medicine to patients today. As an off-the-shelf therapy, NantKwest’s proprietary, natural killer cell therapy offers a simple, easy-to-use therapy that we believe can become the standard of care for a broad range of cancer types. Recognizing the importance of omics guided (www.gpscancer.com) combination therapy to further improve therapeutic effectiveness and patient outcomes, the Cancer MoonShot 2020 program (www.cancermoonshot2020.org) was launched in January 2016 to bring together a wide range of novel therapeutic agents that can be utilized in novel, synergistic combinations. Altor’s ALT-803 and ALT-801 are two such therapeutic agents that offer the potential to be used in combination with NantKwest’s natural killer cell therapies to further improve therapeutic effectiveness and patient outcomes."