HK inno.N and AbClon said they would work together to develop and commercialize CAR-T therapy, and their collaboration will continue through a contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) deal.

On Monday, the two signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint development of AT-101, a type of immunotherapy developed with CAR-T technology to treat blood cancers expressing CD19.

HK inno.N and AbClon are collaborating to develop and commercialize CAR-T therapy, AT-101, for blood cancers.
HK inno.N and AbClon are collaborating to develop and commercialize CAR-T therapy, AT-101, for blood cancers.

AbClon used the so-called “Novel Epitope Screening Technology (NEST), an antibody discovery platform, to develop an experimental CAR-T therapy AT-101.

AbClon received the regulatory nod for a phase 1/2 trial of AT-101 late last year. The drug candidate aims to treat relapsed or refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) in about 100 patients in the study, the company said.

According to AbClon, the company will soon enroll the first patient in the local trial at Asan Medical Center in Seoul and plans to start the drug administration within the first half of this year.

Under the MOU, the two companies will discuss the scope of joint development of AT-101 in detail. As the two are in talks for technology transfer for a CDMO deal, the two may conclude the deal in the first half of the year.

Under the agreement, HK inno.N plans to help commercialize AT-101 at the cell and gene therapy center in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province. The company will also cooperate on the development of follow-up CAR-T therapy pipelines.

The latest MOU is HK inno.N’s first CDMO business for cell therapy after selecting CAR-T and NK treatments as new growth areas.

Won Seong-yong, director of HK inno.N’s biopharmaceutical research institute, said the latest co-work with AbClon would contribute to the advancement of biopharmaceutical technology and accelerate the market entry.

An official at AbClon said the MOU and the discussion for a CDMO deal with HK inno.N came as AbClon needed to expand production facilities to commercialize AT-101. “We thought cooperation with HK inno.N was an effective choice,” he said.

He hoped that the quick and efficient commercialization of AT-101 could help many patients with blood cancers.

AbClon plans to release a stable CAR-T product through joint development with HK inno.N, he added.

Copyright © KBR Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution prohibited