Intrexon, ZIOPHARM and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Advancing Next-Generation Non-Viral CAR-T Platform Empowered by Membra...
April 03 2017 - 7:00AM
Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON), a leader in the engineering and
industrialization of biology to improve the quality of life and
health of the planet, ZIOPHARM Oncology (NASDAQ:ZIOP), a
biopharmaceutical company focused on new immunotherapies, and Merck
KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company,
today announced an update on the development of next-generation
chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy for cancer as part
of their strategic collaboration and license agreement.
Intrexon and ZIOPHARM Oncology, in an exclusive
partnership with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, are advancing a
unique approach to develop therapeutic candidates for two CAR-T
targets expressed on a wide range of tumor types, including
hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.
The distinctive methodology centers on two
technologies: the proprietary RheoSwitch Therapeutic System® (RTS®)
platform to regulate expression of membrane-bound interleukin-15
(mbIL15) co-expressed with CARs and Sleeping Beauty non-viral gene
integration.
“Sleeping Beauty and the RTS® approach are a
powerful combination to improve the manufacturing process and
instill control over CAR-modified T cells co-expressing cytokines
such as membrane-bound IL-15. The collaboration with Intrexon and
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has been a catalyst to progress
these next-generation gene therapy technologies. We are excited by
the progress and look forward to advancing this innovative approach
toward the clinic in mid-2018,” said Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D.,
Chief Executive Officer of ZIOPHARM.
The interleukin-15 (IL-15) cytokine is
increasingly recognized as a key driver of therapeutic effect in
CAR-T therapy, including in a recent Journal of Clinical Oncology
publication which correlated lymphoma remissions with elevated
IL-15 levels. Through the RTS® gene switch, the expression of
mbIL15 can be regulated to help CARs target cancers in a controlled
manner, thus providing a new paradigm in T-cell therapy.
Additionally, the non-viral Sleeping Beauty
transposon-transposase is an exceptional system for introducing
genes encoding CARs and TCRs into T cells that holds multiple
advantages over viral-based delivery systems. It simplifies genetic
modification, and when coupled with reduced ex vivo processing,
offers a pathway to shortened manufacturing and personalized T-cell
therapies.
About Intrexon
CorporationIntrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON) is Powering
the Bioindustrial Revolution with Better DNA™ to create
biologically-based products that improve the quality of life and
the health of the planet. The Company's integrated technology
suite provides its partners across diverse markets with
industrial-scale design and development of complex biological
systems delivering unprecedented control, quality, function, and
performance of living cells. We call our synthetic biology
approach Better DNA®, and we invite you to discover more at
www.dna.com or follow us on Twitter at @Intrexon, on Facebook, and
LinkedIn.
About ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.:
ZIOPHARM Oncology is a Boston, Massachusetts-based biotechnology
company employing novel gene expression, control and cell
technologies to deliver safe, effective and scalable cell- and
viral-based therapies for the treatment of cancer and
graft-versus-host-disease. The Company's immuno-oncology programs,
in collaboration with Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON) and the MD
Anderson Cancer Center, include chimeric antigen receptor T cell
(CAR-T) and other adoptive cell-based approaches that use non-viral
gene transfer methods for broad scalability. The Company is
advancing programs in multiple stages of development together with
Intrexon Corporation's RheoSwitch Therapeutic System® technology, a
switch to turn on and off, and precisely modulate, gene expression
in order to improve therapeutic index. The Company's pipeline
includes a number of cell-based therapeutics in both clinical and
preclinical testing which are focused on hematologic and solid
tumor malignancies.
TrademarksIntrexon, RheoSwitch
Therapeutic System, RheoSwitch, RTS, Powering the Bioindustrial
Revolution with Better DNA, and Better DNA are trademarks of
Intrexon and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of
their respective owners.
Safe Harbor StatementSome of
the statements made in this press release are forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon
our current expectations and projections about future events and
generally relate to our plans, objectives and expectations for the
development of our business. Although management believes
that the plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by these
forward-looking statements are reasonable, all forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual future
results may be materially different from the plans, objectives and
expectations expressed in this press release.
For more information, contact:
Intrexon Corporation
Investor Contact:
Christopher Basta
Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel: 561-410-7052
investors@intrexon.com
Corporate Contact:
Marie Rossi, Ph.D.
Director, Technical Communications
Tel: 301-556-9850
publicrelations@intrexon.com
ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.
Amy Trevvett
Vice President, Corporate Communications
and Investor Relations
Tel: 617-502-1881
David Pitts
Argot Partners
Tel: 212-600-1902
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