Valbonne, France, November 2, 2015 – TxCell SA (FR0010127662 – TXCL), a biotechnology company developing innovative, personalized T cell immunotherapies using regulatory T-cells for severe chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, announces today that it has entered into an exclusive option agreement with Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd, the technology transfer arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.
Resulting from the exclusive option agreement, TxCell will gain exclusive access to a CAR-Treg patent for suppression of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases originated in the Weizmann Institute of Science laboratory of Professor Zelig Eshhar.
Professor Eshhar pioneered the CAR (Chimeric Antigen Receptor) approach. His achievements were recognized by several international awards, including the CAR Pioneering award by the ATTACK European Consortium, the Teva and Massry prizes and, most recently, the Israel Prize in life sciences.
The patent application under the option that TxCell has obtained covers redirected, genetically engineered T regulatory cells (CAR-Treg) and their use in suppression of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
“Entering into this exclusive option agreement with the Weizmann Institute of Science, one of the world’s leading academic research centers, is a very important milestone for TxCell,” said Arnaud Foussat, CSO of TxCell. “In view of extending our existing Treg-cell platform, TxCell has committed to evaluate and establish the significance of CAR-Treg cell products in inflammation and auto-immunity.”
“TxCell, through its unique expertise and management of the research and clinical development of Treg based cellular immunotherapy products, is ideally positioned to develop CAR-Treg product for chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases,” said Amir Naiberg, CEO of Yeda.
The option agreement grants TxCell until June 30, 2016 to opt-in at predefined terms.
Financial terms of the option and of the license were not disclosed.
About TxCell: www.txcell.com
TxCell develops innovative, personalized T cell immunotherapies for the treatment of severe chronic inflammatory diseases with high medical need. TxCell has created ASTrIA, a unique and proprietary product platform based on the properties of autologous antigen-specific regulatory T lymphocytes (Ag-Tregs). The company has initiated a phase IIb study of its lead product candidate, Ovasave(R) in refractory Crohn’s disease patients. This follows a phase I/IIa study in the same patient population reporting positive clinical efficacy and good tolerability. TxCell’s second product candidate, Col-Treg is for the treatment of autoimmune uveitis, a rare disease of the eye. Listed on the regulated market Euronext Paris, TxCell is a spin-off of Inserm (France’s National Institute for Health and Medical Research). TxCell has 62 employees.
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