The companies have entered into a non-exclusive commercial license agreement that will allow CRISPR Therapeutics to deploy MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation Technology to develop CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies in immuno-oncology.
CRISPR Therapeutics CEO Samarth Kulkarni said: “As we advance our allogeneic CAR-T programs into the clinic, we are preparing for the future by securing our access to the leading ex vivo delivery platform for both clinical and commercial use, just as we previously did for our hemoglobinopathy developmental candidates.”
The expanded relationship builds on an existing agreement announced in March 2017 which allowed for the development of commercial therapeutics for hemoglobin-related diseases.
Under the terms of the new license agreement, CRISPR Therapeutics will obtain non-exclusive development and commercial-use rights to MaxCyte’s cell engineering platform to develop immuno-oncology cell therapies.
MaxCyte will supply its technology to CRISPR Therapeutics as part of the enabling technology license agreement and will receive milestone and sales-based payments in addition to other licensing fees.
MaxCyte president & CEO Doug Doerfler said: “The expansion of our relationship with CRISPR Therapeutics signifies a key milestone for MaxCyte and our technology, providing further validation for the value and versatility of our technology as a leading enabler of next-generation cell-based therapies.
“CRISPR Therapeutics is a leader in gene editing, and we are very pleased to expand our collaboration into new therapeutic areas as we continue to explore the use of our technology to advance medicines to market that will make a difference for patients.”
MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation Technology enables the engineering of a broad range of therapeutically-relevant cell types at high efficiency while maintaining high viability and recovery.
CRISPR Therapeutics’ immuno-oncology cell therapy programs rely on ex vivo gene editing, where the CRISPR components are delivered into T-cells using the MaxCyte technology.
Source: Company Press Release