- Research collaboration harnesses powerful CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to engineer improved T-cell therapies targeting unmet needs in cancer
- Agreement builds on Intellia’s ex vivo approach through its division, eXtellia
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and MILAN, Italy, June 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NTLA), a leading genome editing company, and San Raffaele University and Research Hospital, a leading scientific institution, have entered into a three-year research collaboration, option and license agreement to engineer optimized T cell cancer therapies. The goal of the collaboration is to discover innovative tools to target tough-to-treat cancers, while leveraging Intellia’s proprietary CRISPR/Cas9 platform to generate next-generation T cell therapies that will address unmet needs in both hematological and solid tumors. Professor Chiara Bonini, Head of San Raffaele’s Experimental Hematology Unit and Deputy Director of the Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, will lead the scientific work at San Raffaele.
The collaboration marks the first external partnership of Intellia’s eXtellia division. eXtellia’s long-term strategy is focused on advancing new generations of engineered cell therapies through the unique and proprietary applications of CRISPR genome editing. eXtellia was established in 2016, and has identified its initial areas of focus as immuno-oncology and auto-immunity, where genome-edited cell therapy offers a potentially powerful and differentiated therapeutic modality. The agreement also includes options and licenses to key technologies for production of engineered cell therapies developed at San Raffaele.
“Through this collaboration, eXtellia aims to apply CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in a multi-faceted way to modulate the fundamental properties of engineered immune cells and amplify their anti-cancer properties far beyond current applications,” said Andrew Schiermeier, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, eXtellia. “San Raffaele and Dr. Bonini are recognized globally as leaders in cell therapy and immuno-oncology, with excellent track records in translating innovative research into approved therapies. We aspire to one day cure cancer in patients who are fighting every day with few or no treatment options.”
“T cell therapy has recently produced impressive results in clinical trials in specific cancer types. However, to realize the full potential of T cell therapy, including in a broader set of cancer types, next generation cellular products are needed,” said Professor Chiara Bonini. “Intellia’s leadership in genome editing will be critical to achieve this goal and shape this new class of ‘living drugs’.”
About San Raffaele University and Research Hospital
Ospedale San Raffaele is a research-university hospital established in 1971 to provide international-level specialised care for the most complex and difficult health conditions. Since 2012, it is part of San Donato Hospital Group, the leading hospital group in Italy. San Raffaele is a multi-speciality center with over 50 clinical specialties and over 1,300 beds. Research focuses on integrating basic, translational and clinical activities to provide the most advanced care to its patients. For further information, visit: hsr.it.
About Intellia Therapeutics
Intellia Therapeutics is a leading genome editing company focused on the development of proprietary, potentially curative therapeutics using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Intellia believes the CRISPR/Cas9 technology has the potential to transform medicine by permanently editing disease-associated genes in the human body with a single treatment course. Our combination of deep scientific, technical and clinical development experience, along with our leading intellectual property portfolio, puts us in a unique position to unlock broad therapeutic applications of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology and create a new class of therapeutic products. Learn more about Intellia Therapeutics and CRISPR/Cas9 at intelliatx.com; Follow us on Twitter @intelliatweets.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” of Intellia within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, express or implied statements regarding Intellia’s ability to advance and expand the CRISPR/Cas9 technology to develop into human therapeutic products; our ability to achieve stable liver editing; effective genome editing with a single treatment dose; and the potential timing and advancement of our preclinical studies and clinical trials. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs of future events, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: risks related to Intellia’s ability to protect and maintain our intellectual property position; risks related to the ability of our licensors to protect and maintain their intellectual property position; uncertainties related to the initiation and conduct of studies and other development requirements for our product candidates; the risk that any one or more of Intellia’s product candidates will not be successfully developed and commercialized; the risk that the results of preclinical studies will be predictive of future results in connection with future studies; and the risk that Intellia’s collaborations with Novartis or Regeneron will not continue or will not be successful. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause Intellia’s actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Intellia’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Intellia’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Intellia Therapeutics undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.
CONTACT: Contacts: Intellia Therapeutics Jennifer Mound Smoter Senior Vice President, External Affairs & Communications +1 857-706-1071 jenn.smoter@intelliatx.com Graeme Bell Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer +1 857-706-1071 graeme.bell@intelliatx.com Ospedale San Raffaele - University and Research Hospital Press office: Gea Gardini + 39 02.2643.3004 ufficio.stampa@hsr.it www.hsr.it
