On June 24, 2021 Bio-Techne Corporation (NASDAQ: TECH) and Catamaran Bio reported an expansion of their collaboration for the development of cell engineering and cell process technologies for use by Catamaran in the manufacturing of CAR-NK cell therapy products (Press release, Bio-Techne, JUN 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234584311]).
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The companies have now broadened the scope of their collaboration to include the development of novel cell expansion technologies for use in the manufacturing of CAR-NK cell therapy products. In addition, Catamaran has secured a broad worldwide license to Bio‑Techne’s rights related to the TcBuster transposon system for use in the research, clinical and commercial manufacturing of next generation allogeneic cell therapy products. Catamaran has integrated the TcBuster transposon system, a non-viral cell engineering technology that enables multiple gene editing and efficient delivery of large genetic payloads, into its TAILWIND Platform for CAR-NK cell therapies.
The initial collaboration between Catamaran and Bio-Techne, which began in 2020, has been focused on optimizing the application of the TcBuster transposon system to CAR-NK cell engineering. The TcBuster transposon system was developed at B-MoGen Biotechnologies by a team that included Catamaran’s scientific co-founder, Branden Moriarty, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Minnesota. Bio-Techne acquired B-MoGen Biotechnologies in 2019.
"Our agreements with Catamaran open the path for Bio-Techne’s cutting-edge cell engineering and process technologies to deliver gene-modified CAR-NK cell therapies for cancer," said Dave Eansor, President of Bio-Techne’s Protein Sciences Segment. "We are delighted to expand our relationship with Catamaran and increase our impact in the cell therapy space."
"We have established a successful track record of collaborating with Bio-Techne to optimize technologies for use in CAR-NK cell engineering and manufacturing. This collaboration and license exemplify our strategy to access technologies that provide important advantages in the cell therapy manufacturing process, as we position Catamaran as a leader in developing off-the-shelf CAR-NK cell therapies for solid tumors," said Alvin Shih, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Catamaran Bio.
Through the collaboration, the Catamaran and Bio-Techne teams are focused on developing and enhancing technologies for scalable and robust manufacturing of allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies. Bio-Techne will contribute innovative cell expansion technologies and both companies will contribute know-how to enable large-scale production of functional CAR-NK cells.
"We are excited to be making advances with innovative technologies that enable Catamaran to achieve scalable and robust manufacturing processes for our CAR-NK cell therapies. We are committed to incorporating transformative technologies into our TAILWIND Platform as we advance our product candidates toward the clinic and enable allogeneic CAR-NK cell therapies to reach their therapeutic potential," said Vipin Suri, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Catamaran Bio.