IASO Biotechnology, a China-based company, and Umoja Biopharma, a California-headquartered developer of off-the-shelf cell therapies, have announced a collaboration agreement to research, develop, and commercialize innovative in vitro and in vivo cell and gene therapies (CGTs). This collaboration expands on a previous agreement in November 2022, where the two companies agreed to combine IASO’s chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) with Umoja’s iCIL platform to develop next-generation off-the-shelf cell therapies.
According to the terms of the agreement, IASO will gain exclusive rights to Umoja’s rapamycin activated cytokine receptor (RACR) platform, a synthetic cytokine receptor technology, to develop two in vitro induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived CAR cell therapies. IASO will handle global research and development, manufacturing, regulatory filings, and commercialization of these products. Concurrently, Umoja will exclusively utilize the CAR sequences of two different targets clinically validated by IASO, combined with Umoja’s self-developed lentivirus vector in vivo gene delivery technology, VivoVec, to advance the development of two in vivo CAR-T candidate products. The companies will be responsible for product research and development, production, registration, and commercialization in Greater China and other regions, respectively. Additionally, both parties will have the right to charge corresponding development and sales milestone payments as well as royalties.- Flcube.com
