Marker Therapeutics Announces Entry into Services Agreement with Wilson Wolf
April 26 2022 - 07:00AM
Marker Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRKR), a clinical-stage
immuno-oncology company specializing in the development of
next-generation T cell-based immunotherapies for the treatment of
hematological malignancies and solid tumor indications, today
announced it has entered into a services agreement with Wilson Wolf
Manufacturing Corporation. The agreement includes an $8.0 million
upfront cash payment by Wilson Wolf to Marker in exchange for
services relating to Marker’s expertise in the manufacture of cell
therapies. Wilson Wolf has agreed to pay Marker an additional $1.0
million if the certain work, as defined in the services agreement,
is completed within one year from the onset of the services
agreement.
“Marker Therapeutics has created its own cGMP
manufacturing capacity that allows us to service our clinical
trials with full control and lower costs when compared to use of
contract manufacturing organizations,” said Peter Hoang, CEO of
Marker Therapeutics. “Our process utilizes Wilson Wolf products and
we think our knowledge is highly aligned with Wilson Wolf’s mission
to advance the cell and gene therapy field through simplified
manufacturing. Wilson Wolf’s payment of $8 million in non-dilutive
funding, with potential for another $1 million, for a portion of
Marker’s knowledge will be used by Marker to advance its mission to
fundamentally improve the way liquid and solid tumors are
eliminated. Given how entrenched Wilson Wolf’s technology is in the
cell and gene therapy field, we see this as an endorsement of
Marker’s manufacturing expertise.”
“Marker’s therapies have demonstrated in
clinical trials to date the potential to activate the patient’s own
immune system while eliminating tumors. This $8 million upfront
payment provides Marker with added wherewithal to treat and assess
patients,” said Mr. Hoang.
“Wilson Wolf’s mission is to create hope for
cancer patients, one G-Rex® device at a time. We have hundreds of
customers using our G-Rex® technology for the manufacture of cell
and gene therapies that range from early-stage R&D all the way
to an FDA approved therapy,” said John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Wolf.
“Nearly every CAGT organization relies on contract manufacturers to
make their therapies for clinical trials. The revolutionary nature
of these lifesaving therapies has caused explosive growth in demand
on contract manufacturing capacity. As a result, cell and gene
therapy companies are incurring skyrocketing costs and long wait
times to get their clinical drugs made.”
“Marker found a unique way to avoid this problem
and created their own FDA registered drug manufacturing facility
which integrates a G-Rex® based manufacturing process that we
believe is extremely simple, cost effective, and easily scaled,”
said John Wilson. “The way that Marker freed itself of reliance on
CMOs inspired Wilson Wolf to enter into a service agreement that we
believe will enhance our effort to de-risk the cell and gene
therapy industry as a whole.”
About Wilson Wolf
ManufacturingBased in St. Paul, Minnesota, Wilson Wolf
(www.wilsonwolf.com) was founded in 1998 to develop and make
innovative cell culture technologies. For the last decade, Wilson
Wolf has focused on advancing the field of cell and gene therapy
through its G-Rex® bioreactor technology. G-Rex® is used to produce
cells for R&D discovery, clinical trials, and commercial sale
of CAGT drugs. In 2020, Wilson Wolf formed a joint venture with
Bio-Techne and Fresenius-Kabi called ScaleReady www.scaleready.com
to bring more capacity to advance the CAGT field. ScaleReady’s
mission is to de-risk the path from CAGT discovery to societal
use.
About Marker Therapeutics,
Inc.Marker Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage
immuno-oncology company specializing in the development of
next-generation T cell-based immunotherapies for the treatment of
hematological malignancies and solid tumor indications. Marker’s
cell therapy technology is based on the selective expansion of
non-engineered, tumor-specific T cells that recognize tumor
associated antigens (i.e. tumor targets) and kill tumor cells
expressing those targets. This population of T cells is designed to
attack multiple tumor targets following infusion into patients and
to activate the patient’s immune system to produce broad spectrum
anti-tumor activity. Because Marker does not genetically engineer
its T cell therapies, we believe that our product candidates will
be easier and less expensive to manufacture, with reduced
toxicities, compared to current engineered CAR-T and TCR-based
approaches, and may provide patients with meaningful clinical
benefit. As a result, Marker believes its portfolio of T cell
therapies has a compelling product profile, as compared to current
gene-modified CAR-T and TCR-based therapies. To receive future
press releases via email, please
visit: HTTPS://WWW.MARKERTHERAPEUTICS.COM/EMAIL-ALERTS
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Statements in this news release concerning the
Company’s expectations, plans, business outlook or future
performance, and any other statements concerning assumptions made
or expectations as to any future events, conditions, performance or
other matters, are “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking
statements include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs,
projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning,
among other things: our research, development and regulatory
activities and expectations relating to our non-engineered
multi-tumor antigen specific T cell therapies; the effectiveness of
these programs or the possible range of application and potential
curative effects and safety in the treatment of diseases; the
success of the services agreement with Wilson Wolf, including
Marker’s ability to achieve the milestones required to receive an
additional $1.0 million in funding; our ability to use our
manufacturing facilities to support clinical and commercial demand;
the success of our new manufacturing process; and our future
operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements.
Forward-looking statements are by their nature subject to risks,
uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to
differ materially from those stated in such statements. Such risks,
uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to the risks
set forth in the Company’s most recent Form 10-K, 10-Q and other
SEC filings which are available through EDGAR at WWW.SEC.GOV. Such
risks and uncertainties may be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic
and its impact on our business and the global economy. The Company
assumes no obligation to update our forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
after the date of this press release.
Contacts
Wilson Wolf Manufacturing
Corporation:John WilsonFounder and Chief
Executive Officer(651)-925-2263
JOHN.WILSON@WILSONWOLF.COM
Investors and Media Contacts:Marker
Therapeutics:Neda SafarzadehVice President/Head of
Investor Relations, PR &
Marketing(713)-400-6451INVESTOR.RELATIONS@MARKERTHERAPEUTICS.COM
Solebury Trout:Amy
BonannoMediaABONANNO@SOLEBURYTROUT.COM
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