Partnership to develop novel stem cell lines for CNS disorders, other neuro conditions
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Eterna Therapeutics Inc. announced it has entered into an exclusive option and license agreement with Lineage Cell Therapeutics Inc. to create novel induced hypoimmune pluripotent stem cell lines for use in cell transplant therapies.
According to an Eterna release, the agreement stipulates that Eterna will conduct specific gene-editing activities and provide materials to Lineage for evaluation, while Lineage has an option to obtain an exclusive license to utilize and sublicense novel gene-edited cell lines for preclinical, clinical and commercial purposes to treat CNS conditions and other neurological issues. Eterna will be the exclusive licensee of intellectual property underlying this collaboration.
“The cell therapy expertise demonstrated by Lineage makes them an attractive partner to deploy our mRNA cell engineering platform for the generation of novel gene-edited iPSC lines for neurological applications,” Matt Angel, PhD, CEO of Eterna, stated in the release. “We look forward to collaborating with the Lineage team on this project and working with them to develop these powerful tools for the generation of new, intelligently engineered cell therapy product candidates.”
A feature of the starting cell line is the targeted deletion of the beta 2 microglobulin gene, which aims to reduce immunogenicity of product candidates derived from the lines by inhibiting rejection by CD8+ T cells, the release stated. Lineage expects this attribute will expand the edited cell lines’ overall use, including for nonimmune privileged or nonhuman leukocyte antigen matched indications.
“This agreement provides the opportunity to combine insights obtained from our dry age-related macular degeneration program with new tools, to broaden the scope of our technology and may help deliver solutions for a wider range of diseases,” Brian M. Culley, Lineage’s CEO, said in the release. “It is natural that we would look to introduce aspects of gene editing, hypoimmunity and additional pluripotent cell lines alongside our existing directed differentiation capabilities.”