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Eterna Therapeutics Enters Into Option and License Agreement with Lineage Cell Therapeutics to Develop Hypoimmune Pluripotent Cell Lines for Multiple Neurology Indications
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eterna Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ERNA) (“Eterna”), a preclinical-stage biotechnology company committed to
About this update from Ernexa Therapeutics Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eterna Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ERNA) (“Eterna”), a preclinical-stage biotechnology company committed to realizing the potential of mRNA cell engineering to provide patients with transformational new medicines, today announced that it has entered into an exclusive option and license agreement (the “Agreement”) with Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (“Lineage”) for the development of novel induced hypoimmune pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines, which Lineage will evaluate for development into cell transplant therapies. The new cell lines to be developed by Eterna will support the potential creation of additional product candidates at Lineage, specifically for the treatment of certain central nervous system (CNS) disorders and other neurology indications. Eterna is the exclusive licensee of the key intellectual property underlying this collaboration. “The cell therapy expertise demonstrated by Lineage makes them an attractive partner to deploy our mRNA cell engineering platform for the generation of novel gene-edited iPSC lines for neurological applications,” said Matt Angel, Ph.D., CEO of Eterna. “At Eterna, we have expertise in creating gene-edited iPSC lines using our extensively patented mRNA cell engineering technologies. We look forward to collaborating with the Lineage team on this project and working with them to develop these powerful tools for the generation of new, intelligently-engineered cell therapy product candidates in the CNS space.” Under the Agreement, Eterna plans to conduct certain gene-editing activities and provide materials to Lineage for evaluation. The Agreement provides Lineage an option to obtain an exclusive license to utilize and sublicense the novel gene-edited cell lines for preclinical, clinical, and commercial purposes in the field of CNS diseases. A feature of the starting cell line is the targeted deletion of the beta 2 microglobulin (B2M)-gene, which is designed to reduce the immunogenicity of product candidates derived from the lines by inhibiting rejection by CD8+ T cells. Lineage expects this attribute will expand the edited cell lines’ overall utility, including for non-immune privileged or non-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched indications. Additional planned gene edits may further differentiate the cell line from others currently in us...