Cell Therapies Pty Ltd is partnering with Arovella Therapeutics (ASX: ALA) to develop the manufacturing process for Arovella’s ALA-101 product candidate to treat cancer patients in upcoming clinical trials.
The ALA-101 product incorporates Arovella’s invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform from Imperial College London in combination with a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) targeting CD19. ALA-101 is being developed as an allogeneic cell therapy, providing an “off-the-shelf” solution for CD19-expressing cancers.
Arovella’s CEO and MD, Dr Michael Baker, commented: “We are delighted to partner with Cell Therapies to manufacture ALA-101. Cell Therapies have a proven track record manufacturing cell-based therapeutics for patients and we believe they are the ideal partner to get our therapy into the hands of people suffering from CD19-expressing blood cancers. We are looking forward to a strong partnership.”
Cell Therapies will further develop Arovella’s proprietary CAR-iNKT manufacturing process to meet phase 1 clinical trial requirements, utilising Arovella’s and Cell Therapies’ combined expertise in the field.
“Partnering with Arovella is an excellent opportunity to support Australian innovators with our cell therapy manufacturing experience and to benefit Australian patients,” said Dr Bev Menner, CEO of Cell Therapies.
Cell Therapies has over 20 years of experience delivering cellular therapy products to patients around the world. Its GMP manufacturing facility holds licenses and accreditation from Australia’s TGA and Japan’s MHLW, with increased capacity courtesy of its new commercial-scale expansion that was opened in July of this year.
Cell Therapies has the expertise to support these products as they progress from concept to commercialisation and is an ideal partner for programs like Arovella.
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