MD Anderson Cancer Center and Phoenix SENOLYTIX have entered a cross-licensing agreement to advance inducible switch technologies used in cell and gene therapies.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Phoenix will procure rimiducid from MD Anderson and support for regulatory approval of a new injectable formulation.
In exchange, MD Anderson gains exclusive rights to Phoenix’s new formulation of rimiducid for its ex vivo cell therapy platforms.
Rimiducid plays a crucial role in activating safety switch technologies, including those acquired by MD Anderson from Bellicum Pharmaceuticals.
The switches are essential for regulating cell and gene therapy activities.
The partnership aims to enhance the cell therapies by integrating Phoenix’s in-house ApoptiCIDe platform with the new rimiducid formulation.
MD Anderson vice president and Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation head, stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy professor Katy Rezvani said: “While we have had very promising safety results with our engineered cell therapies, it is critical that we include effective technologies to rapidly eliminate transduced cells in the event of treatment-related toxicities.
“We look forward to working with Phoenix to continue developing these important technologies to enhance our cell therapy programmes.”
The ApoptiCIDe platform, which is designed for targeted cell elimination in ageing and obesity-related disorders, builds on technologies developed by David Spencer.
The platform now incorporates the new rimiducid formulation, offering potential advancements in both cell and gene therapies.
The agreement also includes forming a scientific advisory board to guide the development of the advanced technologies.
The board will include members from both organisations, including Spencer, Daniel Jasinski, and Kevin Slawin from Phoenix and Katy Rezvani from MD Anderson.
The collaboration is expected to further enhance MD Anderson’s cell therapy programs and Phoenix’s gene therapy innovations.
Spencer said: “We are excited about the broad medical opportunities presented by the dimerizer applications that would be enhanced with this new formulation of rimiducid.
“This reflects a potentially major advance that should further expand the adoption of cell and gene therapies.”
