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news.Caladrius Biosciences has entered into a material transfer agreement with the University of Southern California and the California Institute of Technology, to explore next-generation strategies for the company's core cancer technology.
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The research collaboration will build on the company’s manufacturing protocol for its lead cancer program, CLBS20 (NBS20).
All the parties will explore new techniques to further improve the isolation of cancer initiating cells with the goal of increasing the number of cancer patients that might benefit from treatment.
Currently, CLBS20 is being evaluated in a Phase III trial (Intus Study) for the treatment of late-stage melanoma.
Intus Study has been granted a Special Protocol Assessment by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CLBS20 development program has been granted orphan drug and fast track designations by the agency.
Caladrius chief executive officer Dr David Mazzo said: "This collaboration illustrates Caladrius’ continued commitment to the optimization of our technologies through association with two prominent research universities."
The company said that the platform on which CLBS20 is based, is potentially applicable across multiple solid tumor types, including lung, colon and ovarian cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and glioblastoma multiforme.
CLBS20 uses the patient’s own immune cells and tumor-initiating cells to develop an immunotherapy therapeutic vaccine.