Bellicum and Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù Announce Expanded Collaboration to Develop Novel CAR T and TCR Cell Therapies Engineered with CaspaCIDe
CaspaCIDe-enabled CD19 CAR T cell therapy to enter clinical development in 2017
Agreement broadened after clinical successes of BPX-501 with CaspaCIDe
The two organizations agreed to jointly develop CARs and other cell therapies discovered by OPBG and engineered with Bellicum’s CaspaCIDe safety switch, which is designed to reduce or eliminate cells that become toxic or are no longer needed. Under terms of this agreement, Bellicum agreed to provide financial support to the research collaboration in exchange for exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize certain cell therapies that are developed, while OPBG maintains rights for research purposes. OPBG will conduct research and clinical studies of CAR T and TCR therapeutics in pediatric patients, with initial CD19 CAR T and GD2 CAR T clinical trials in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia and neuroblastoma patients, respectively, expected to start in 2017. In addition, OPBG agreed to manufacture European clinical trial supplies for the investigational programs, as well as Bellicum’s PRAME-targeted TCR, BPX-701, in its GMP facility.
“The Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù is among the world’s leading cell
and gene therapy research centers and hospitals, and we are enthusiastic
about working with them to develop controllable engineered T-cell
therapies,” commented
“We have a highly productive and synergistic relationship with Bellicum,
and look forward to building on our present research collaboration,”
commented Dr.
About Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù
Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital is a scientific institute for research
and health care and is Italy’s main pediatric hospital providing
advanced health care for children and performing basic, clinical and
translational research activities. The hospital is widely recognized as
a referral center for all pediatric specialties at national and
international levels. The research laboratories are located in a
brand-new and purpose-built research facility of 3,000 sqm. The Bambino
Gesù Hospital has also built a new GMP Facility of 1,200 sqm equipped
with 8 clean rooms for extensive cell manipulation, including gene
therapy.
About
Bellicum is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing cellular immunotherapies for cancers and orphan inherited blood disorders. Bellicum is using its proprietary Chemical Induction of Dimerization (CID) technology platform to engineer and control components of the immune system. Bellicum is developing next-generation product candidates in some of the most important areas of cellular immunotherapy, including hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and CAR T and TCR cell therapies. More information can be found at www.bellicum.com.
Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes
of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Bellicum may, in some cases, use terms such as
"predicts," "believes," "potential," "proposed," "continue," “designed,”
"estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "may,"
"could," "might," "will," "should" or other words that convey
uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include
statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook,
analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: our
research and development activities relating to CAR Ts, to TCRs and to
CaspaCIDe; the success of the collaboration with OPGB, the effectiveness
of BPX-501, its possible range of application and potential curative
effects and safety in the treatment of diseases including as compared to
other treatment options and competitive therapies; the timing and
success of our clinical trials, including clinical trials involving CD19
CAR T cells; the timing of regulatory filings for BPX-501; our research
and development activities relating to BPX-501; and the potential
applications of our product candidate BPX-501. Various factors may cause
differences between Bellicum’s expectations and actual results as
discussed in greater detail under the heading “Risk Factors” in
Bellicum’s filings with the
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Source:
Investors:
Bellicum Pharmaceuticals
Alan Musso, CFO,
832-384-1116
amusso@bellicum.com
or
Media:
BMC
Communications
Brad Miles, 646-513-3125
bmiles@bmccommunications.com