HANGZHOU, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Qihan Biotech, a leader in applying multiplexable genome editing technology to cell therapies and organ transplantation, today disclosed the initiation of a program to create immunologically privileged human stem cells to enable the development of improved allogeneic cell therapies.

In collaboration with an undisclosed leader in the production and differentiation of clinical, GMP grade human stem cells, Qihan will leverage its proprietary genome editing technology to reduce the immunogenicity of human stem cells, thus limiting their ability to provoke an immune response. Once differentiated into different cell types, the cells have the potential to be used as universal, allogeneic therapies while reducing or eliminating the need for the patient to receive immunosuppressive drugs.

“Cell therapy is quickly becoming an indispensable weapon against cancer and other serious diseases, yet the technology behind cell therapy leaves much room for improvement. Autologous, or personalized, cell therapies can be prohibitively expensive, while allogeneic approaches to cell therapy still require the patient to be administered immunosuppressive drugs and have been prone to rejection by the immune system,” said Luhan Yang, Ph.D., CEO of Qihan Biotech. “To address these obstacles and realize the full potential of allogeneic cell therapies, the Qihan team is using our proprietary multiplexable gene editing technology, in combination with our extensive expertise in transplantation immunology, to create immunologically privileged human stem cells. Based on our progress to date, we are excited to announce that we have begun to employ this approach in clinical grade, GMP stem cells to enable the advancement of our first cell therapy products for human clinical trials.”

About Qihan Biotech
Qihan Biotech is a biotechnology company applying genome-editing technology to develop novel cell therapies and organs for transplantation. The company’s mission is to use high-throughput, multiplexable genome editing in combination with expertise in transplantation immunology to create immunologically privileged allogeneic cells and xenogeneic organs for use as therapies to treat cancer, organ failure and other important medical conditions. With a vision to create a world in which cell and organ therapies are universally available to patients, Qihan Biotech has raised two rounds of financing and is advancing its cell therapy programs into IND enabling investigations. Qihan Biotech is headquartered in Hangzhou, China. For more information, please visit www.qihanbio.com.

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