MaxCyte and KSQ Therapeutics Announce Development and Commercialization Agreement to Enable the Advancement of KSQ's Adoptive Cell Therapy Programs
GAITHERSBURG, Md. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- MaxCyte, the global cell-based therapies and life sciences company, and KSQ Therapeutics, a biotechnology company using its proprietary CRISPRomics® discovery platform to achieve higher probabilities of success in drug development, announced today that the companies have entered into a new development and commercialization agreement. Under the agreement, KSQ gains rights to use MaxCyte's Flow Electroporation® technology and ExPERT™ instruments for the advancement of KSQ's engineered tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (eTIL™) programs, which the company is developing for the treatment of PD-1 refractory solid tumors.
Under the terms of the agreement, KSQ obtains non-exclusive clinical and commercial use rights to MaxCyte's cell engineering platform to develop multiple adoptive cell therapies. In return, MaxCyte is eligible to receive certain milestone payments in addition to other licensing fees.
"Adoptive cell therapies hold significant potential to improve outcomes for patients that are otherwise unresponsive to current treatments," said David Meeker, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of KSQ. "MaxCyte's technology will play an important role in enabling the further development of our eTIL™ programs as we work to bring best-in-class, cell-based medicines forward for difficult to treat solid tumors."
MaxCyte's ExPERT instrument family represents the next generation of leading, clinically validated, electroporation technology for complex and scalable cellular engineering. By delivering high transfection efficiency with enhanced functionality, the ExPERT platform delivers the high-end performance essential to enable the next wave of biological and cellular therapeutics.
"We are delighted to have signed this agreement with KSQ Therapeutics, a company that's forging an exciting path in the field of adoptive cell therapies with the potential to deliver significant benefits to patients. This is the fifth commercial license we have signed this year, demonstrating that MaxCyte is the partner of choice for leading technology companies, like KSQ, that are at the cutting edge of cell therapy and gene editing," said Doug Doerfler, President & CEO of MaxCyte, Inc.
About KSQ Therapeutics
KSQ Therapeutics is advancing a pipeline of tumor- and immune-focused drug candidates for the treatment of cancer, across multiple drug modalities including targeted therapies, adoptive cell therapies and immuno-therapies. KSQ's proprietary CRISPRomics® discovery engine enables genome-scale, in vivo validated, unbiased drug discovery across broad therapeutic areas. KSQ was founded by thought leaders in the field of functional genomics and pioneers of CRISPR screening technologies, and the company is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.ksqtx.com.
About MaxCyte
MaxCyte is a clinical-stage global cell-based therapies and life sciences company applying its proprietary cell engineering platform to deliver the advances of cell-based medicine to patients with high unmet medical needs. MaxCyte is developing novel CARMA therapies for its own pipeline, with its first drug candidate in a Phase I clinical trial. CARMA is MaxCyte's mRNA-based proprietary therapeutic platform for autologous cell therapy for the treatment of solid cancers. In addition, through its life sciences business, MaxCyte leverages its Flow Electroporation Technology to enable its biopharmaceutical partners to advance the development of innovative medicines, particularly in cell therapy. MaxCyte has placed its flow electroporation instruments worldwide, including with all of the top ten global biopharmaceutical companies. The Company now has more than 80 partnered programme licenses in cell therapy with more than 45 licensed for clinical use. With its robust delivery technology platform, MaxCyte helps its partners to unlock the full potential of their products. For more information, visit www.maxcyte.com.
SOURCE MaxCyte
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