Clinical-stage cell therapy company Chimeric Therapeutics (ASX:CHM) has entered a sponsored research agreement (SRA) with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in the US to further advance the company's NK cell therapy portfolio.
The research program at CWRU will be led by Dr David Wald, inventor of the CORE NK technology.
Chimeric said it will work with Dr Wald and his laboratory to advance multiple next-generation NK cell products through preclinical development, including CHM 0301 (Next-Generation CORE-NK Platform), CHM 1301 (Chlorotoxin CAR NK), CHM 2301 (CDH17 CAR NK), and CHM 3301 (undisclosed CAR NK).
Chimeric’s NK cell therapy portfolio foundational asset, CHM 0201 (CORE NK platform), was invented and developed by Dr Wald at Case Western.
CHM 0201 was studied in a phase 1 clinical trial at Seidman Cancer Center in Ohio with all key endpoints achieved, including safety with no graft versus host disease, cell persistence and cell expansion.
"In addition, an encouraging efficacy signal was demonstrated, particularly in blood cancers where all patients achieved disease control and one patient achieved a complete response that was sustained through to 15 months at the time of study publication," said the company.
“With the encouraging clinical data seen with CHM 0201 (CORE NK cell platform) we are very excited to be enhancing our collaboration with Dr Wald and his team at Case Western. By building upon Dr Wald’s NK cell scientific experience and expertise we believe we will be able to advance NK cell therapies to benefit patients in multiple disease areas in the future,” said Chimeric CEO and managing director Jennifer Chow.
Under the SRA, Chimeric receives the exclusive option to license intellectual property created by CWRU as part of the sponsored research.
The agreement is outcomes based on research aims for an initial period estimated to be two years, which may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties.