Eterna Therapeutics Announces Initiation of Development Activities for Hypoimmune Pluripotent Cell Line for Neurology Indications Under Partnership With Lineage Cell Therapeutics
September 06 2023 - 8:00AM
Eterna Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ERNA) (“Eterna”), a life science
company committed to realizing the potential of mRNA cell
engineering to provide patients with transformational new
medicines, today announced the initiation of certain development
activities to generate a novel hypoimmune induced pluripotent stem
cell (iPSC) line under its option and license agreement (the
“Agreement”) with Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (“Lineage”).
This marks the next step in the strategic collaboration announced
in February 2023, under which Eterna is developing innovative
engineered hypoimmune iPSC lines that Lineage will evaluate for
development into differentiated cell transplant therapies for
central nervous system (CNS) diseases and other neurology
indications.
“We are excited to move forward with the next
phase of our partnership with Lineage,” said Matt Angel, Ph.D.,
Chief Executive Officer and President of Eterna. “We believe that
pluripotent cell therapies have the potential to significantly
outperform traditional approaches in certain settings, and this
milestone highlights Eterna’s capabilities for generating novel
gene-edited iPSC lines using our mRNA cell engineering
platform.”
“Our partnership with Eterna reflects an
important step in a corporate strategy intended to capitalize on
our existing process development capabilities by combining them
with cutting-edge cell engineering and editing technologies, to
create novel and potentially superior product profiles,” stated
Brian M. Culley, Chief Executive Officer of Lineage. “This
collaboration reflects our effort to broaden the application of our
cell therapy platform and our plans for future success in this
growing field. We look forward to leveraging our expertise to
develop innovative cell transplant therapies that have the
potential to transform the treatment of a wide range of diseases by
capitalizing on the convergence of directed cell differentiation
and manufacturing with modern gene-editing technology.”
Eterna’s next-generation mRNA gene-editing
approach is designed to efficiently inactivate target genes and to
replace viral methods for insertion of genes of interest into
target cells for long-lasting expression of transgenes. Since
announcing the deal earlier this year, Lineage has evaluated its
development strategy with a group of leading neurology experts in
the U.S. and abroad. As a result of these and other discussions,
and an assessment of the competitive landscape, Lineage finalized
its selection of specific gene edits for the initial cell lines to
be developed by Eterna and made an initial payment to Eterna under
the Agreement. It is anticipated that these edits would expand the
edited cell lines’ overall utility, including for non-immune
privileged or non-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched indications
and will further differentiate the cell line from others currently
in use by competitors. The novel hypoimmune iPSC line to be
developed under the Agreement will include the following three
edits:
- Targeted deletion of the B2M gene, designed to reduce the
immunogenicity of product candidates derived from the lines by
inhibiting rejection by CD8+ T cells
- Targeted insertion of the HLA-E gene, designed to overexpress
HLA-E and prevent the allogeneic NK cell response
- A third undisclosed edit intended to confer clinical
differentiation and a competitive advantage in the applicable
indications
Under the Agreement, Eterna plans to conduct
certain gene-editing activities and provide materials to Lineage
for evaluation. Lineage will make milestone payments to Eterna and
in connection with Eterna’s successful delivery to Lineage of
certain materials. Lineage also has an option to obtain an
exclusive license to utilize and sublicense the novel gene-edited
cell lines developed by Eterna for preclinical, clinical, and
commercial purposes in developing potential treatments for CNS
diseases.
About Eterna Therapeutics
Inc.Eterna Therapeutics is a life science company
committed to realizing the potential of mRNA cell engineering to
provide patients with transformational new medicines. Eterna has
in-licensed a portfolio of over 130 patents covering key mRNA cell
engineering technologies, including technologies for mRNA cell
reprogramming, mRNA gene editing, the NoveSlice™ and UltraSlice™
gene-editing proteins, and the ToRNAdo™ mRNA delivery system from
Factor Bioscience. NoveSlice™, UltraSlice™, and ToRNAdo™ are
trademarks of Factor Bioscience. For more information, please
visit www.eternatx.com.
About Lineage Cell Therapeutics
Inc.Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage
biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet
medical needs. Lineage’s programs are based on its robust
proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated in-house
development and manufacturing capabilities. With this platform
Lineage develops and manufactures specialized, terminally
differentiated human cells from its pluripotent and progenitor cell
starting materials. These differentiated cells are developed to
either replace or support cells that are dysfunctional or absent
due to degenerative disease or traumatic injury or administered as
a means of helping the body mount an effective immune response to
cancer. Lineage’s clinical and preclinical programs are in markets
with billion dollar opportunities and include five allogeneic
(“off-the-shelf”) product candidates: (i) OpRegen®, a retinal
pigment epithelial cell therapy in Phase 2a development for the
treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular
degeneration, is being developed under a worldwide collaboration
with Roche and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; (ii) OPC1,
an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a
development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries; (iii)
VAC2, a dendritic cell therapy produced from Lineage’s VAC
technology platform for immuno-oncology and infectious disease,
currently in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of
non-small cell lung cancer; (iv) ANP1, an auditory neuronal
progenitor cell therapy for the potential treatment of auditory
neuropathy; and (v) PNC1, a photoreceptor neural cell therapy for
the potential treatment of vision loss due to photoreceptor
dysfunction or damage. For more information, please visit
www.lineagecell.com or follow the company on Twitter
@LineageCell.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
which are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements are any statements that are not
statements of historical fact and may be identified by terminology
such as “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “expect,”
“plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “project,” “will” or other similar
words and the negatives of such words. Forward-looking statements
are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to
risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future
performance. Actual results could differ materially from those
stated or implied in any forward-looking statement as a result of
various factors, including, but not limited to, uncertainties
related to: (i) the evolution of Eterna’s business model into a
platform company focused on mRNA, induced pluripotent stem (iPS)
cell and gene editing technologies; (ii) Eterna’s ability to
successfully, cost-effectively and efficiently develop its
technology and products; (iii) Eterna’s ability to successfully
commence clinical trials of any products on a timely basis or at
all; (iv) Eterna’s ability to successfully fund and manage the
growth of its development activities; and (v) Eterna’s ability to
obtain regulatory approvals of its products for commercialization.
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions
of future events. The forward-looking statements made in this
communication speak only as of the date on which they were made,
and Eterna does not undertake any obligation to update the
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events that
occur or circumstances that exist after the date hereof, except as
required by applicable law. Factors that may cause Eterna’s actual
results to differ from those expressed or implied in
forward-looking statements contained in this press release are more
fully disclosed in Eterna’s periodic public filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly under the heading
“Risk Factors” in Eterna’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2022, as well as under similar headings in
Eterna’s subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and
Current Reports on Form 8-K.
Eterna Therapeutics
Investorsinvestors@eternatx.com
Eterna Therapeutics
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