MaxCyte and Wugen Sign
Strategic Platform License to Expedite Scale-Up of Clinical and
Commercial Manufacturing of Wugen's Investigational Allogeneic,
Off-the-Shelf Cell Therapies for Cancers
Wugen to use MaxCyte's Flow
Electroporation® technology and ExPERT™ platform to support its
programs for hematologic and solid tumor cancers
ROCKVILLE, MD, and ST LOUIS, MO, Jan. 30,
2024 - MaxCyte,
Inc., (Nasdaq: MXCT; LSE: MXCT),
a leading cell-engineering focused company
providing enabling platform technologies to advance the discovery,
development and commercialization of next-generation cell-based
therapeutics and innovative bioprocessing
applications, and Wugen, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing
allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies to treat a broad range of
hematological and solid tumor malignancies, today announced the signing of a
strategic platform license (SPL).
Under the terms of the agreement,
Wugen gains non-exclusive clinical and commercial rights to use
MaxCyte's Flow Electroporation® technology and ExPERT™ platform. In
return, MaxCyte will receive annual license fees and
program-related revenue.
Wugen is developing the next
generation of off-the-shelf memory natural killer (NK) and CAR-T
cell therapies for cancer. The company's investigational cell
therapies originate from healthy donors and are further engineered
to enhance their function of eliminating cancer cells. Wugen's lead
program is evaluating WU-CART-007, a CD7 targeted
CAR-T cell therapy, in a global Phase 1/2
clinical trial for the treatment of relapsed or
refractory (R/R) T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
(T-ALL)/lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL) in adolescent and adult patients. WU-CART-007 has received Orphan
Drug, Fast Track, and Rare Pediatric Disease Designations from the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of R/R
T-ALL/LBL. Additional information is available on
clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT# 04984356.
"As WU-CART-007 is transferred onto
the ExPERT platform and continues to progress in the clinic, we are
able to support efficient and seamless expansion to large-scale
manufacturing," said Maher Masoud, President and CEO of
MaxCyte. "By working with MaxCyte, Wugen can maximize the number of doses in
each manufacturing run for later stage clinical development and
potential commercial phase."
"Our partnership with MaxCyte is an
exciting step in advancing our groundbreaking therapies for
difficult-to-treat cancers," said
Kumar Srinivasan, PhD, MBA, President and CEO of Wugen.
"This collaboration brings us even closer to delivering life-saving
treatments to patients with limited options. With MaxCyte's
expertise, we're in a position to expedite progress through crucial
development stages and make a significant impact on patients'
lives."
MaxCyte's ExPERT™ instrument
portfolio represents the next generation of clinically validated
electroporation technology for complex and scalable cell
engineering. Offering high transfection efficiency, seamless
scalability, and enhanced functionality, the ExPERT™ platform is
crucial for enabling the next wave of biological and cellular
therapeutics. Wugen is MaxCyte's 26th
clinical/commercial partnership overall, each of which generates
pre-commercial milestone revenue, the vast majority of which
includes sales-based payments.
About MaxCyte
At MaxCyte, we pursue cell
engineering excellence to maximize the potential of cells to
improve patients' lives. We have spent more than 20 years honing
our expertise by building best-in-class platforms, perfecting the
art of the transfection workflow, and venturing beyond today's
processes to innovate tomorrow's solutions. Our ExPERT™ platform,
which is based on our Flow Electroporation® technology, has been designed to support
the rapidly expanding cell therapy market and can be utilized
across the continuum of the high-growth cell therapy sector, from
discovery and development through commercialization of
next-generation, cell-based medicines. The ExPERT family of
products includes: four instruments, the ATx™, STx™, GTx™ and VLx
™; a portfolio of proprietary related processing assemblies or
disposables; and software protocols, all supported by a robust
worldwide intellectual property portfolio. By providing our
partners with the right technology platform, as well as scientific,
technical and regulatory support, we aim to guide them on their
journey to transform human health. Learn more at
maxcyte.com and
follow us on X (formerly Twitter) and
LinkedIn.
About Wugen
Wugen, Inc. is a clinical-stage
biotechnology company developing the next generation of
off-the-shelf memory natural killer (NK) and CAR-T cell therapies
for cancer. Wugen is leveraging its proprietary
Moneta™ platform and deep genomic engineering expertise to
pioneer a new class of memory NK cell therapies to treat
hematological and solid tumor malignancies. For more information,
please visit https://wugen.com/
MaxCyte Contacts:
US IR
Adviser
Gilmartin
Group
David Deuchler, CFA
+1 415-937-5400
ir@maxcyte.com
US Media
Relations
Spectrum Seismic
Collaborative
Valerie Enes
+1 408-497-8568
venes@spectrumscience.com
Nominated Adviser and Joint
Corporate Broker
Panmure Gordon
Emma Earl / Freddy
Crossley
Corporate Broking
Rupert Dearden
+44 (0)20 7886 2500
UK IR
Adviser
ICR
Consilium
Mary-Jane Elliott
Chris Welsh
+44 (0)203 709 5700
maxcyte@consilium-comms.com
Wugen Contacts:
Investor
Contact
Mark Lewis
+1 314-501-1968
Mlewis@wugen.com
Media
Contact
Christine Fanelle
Scient PR
+1 215-595-5211
christine@scientpr.com