- Collaboration combines Intellia’s genome editing platform with ONK’s optimized natural killer (NK) cell therapy platform
- Intellia grants ONK non-exclusive rights to its ex vivo genome editing and LNP delivery technologies and exclusive rights to certain guide RNAs for up to five allogeneic CRISPR-edited NK cell therapies
- ONK is responsible for the research, clinical development and commercialization of engineered NK cell therapies derived from collaboration
- Intellia to receive global co-development and co-commercialization options for up to two CRISPR-edited NK cell therapies with lead commercialization rights in the U.S.
CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA and GALWAY, Ireland and SAN DIEGO, CA, USA I February 15, 2022 I Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA), a leading genome editing company focused on developing curative therapies leveraging CRISPR-based technologies, and ONK Therapeutics Ltd., an innovative company dedicated to developing optimally engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies to cure patients with cancer, today announced a licensing and collaboration agreement. NK cells are specialized, naturally occurring immune cells that play a critical role in immune activation against abnormal cells, including cancer cells. NK cells have gained significant attention in the field of cancer immunotherapy and various approaches are being explored to effectively develop and engineer NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy.
The agreement grants ONK a non-exclusive license to Intellia’s proprietary ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing platform and its lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based delivery technologies to develop up to five allogeneic NK cell therapies. ONK will receive exclusive rights to certain Intellia guide RNAs (gRNAs) resulting from the collaboration for use in engineering those NK cell products. ONK will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development for the engineered NK cell therapies covered under the agreement. Intellia will be eligible to receive up to $184 million per product in development and commercial milestone payments, as well as up to mid-single digit royalties on potential future sales. In addition, the agreement grants Intellia options to co-develop and co-commercialize up to two products worldwide with rights to lead commercialization in the U.S. ONK retains lead commercialization rights ex-U.S. This co-development and co-commercialization option excludes ONK’s lead product ONKT-102, which is being developed for the treatment of patients with relapsed / refractory multiple myeloma, for which ONK retains sole rights. If Intellia chooses to exercise the co-development and co-commercialization option on an investigational product, in lieu of the potential royalties and milestones, Intellia will share 50 percent of any future profit and loss generated by the product.
“We look forward to working with ONK in the development of allogeneic NK cell therapies for patients with cancer. This collaboration, which combines Intellia’s industry-leading CRISPR technology platform and ONK’s expertise in NK cell technology, offers yet another powerful example of how we’re leveraging our strategic collaborations to address life-threatening diseases for patients in need,” said Intellia President and Chief Executive Officer John Leonard, M.D.
“We believe combining Intellia’s ex vivo genome editing and LNP delivery platforms with our suite of proprietary NK cell gene edits has the potential to create optimally engineered NK cells with enhanced cytotoxicity, persistence and an improved metabolic profile that hold tremendous promise to advance the treatment of both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. We are excited to partner with Intellia and are looking forward to a collaboration that allows us to continue to deliver against our strategy, as we evolve into a clinical-stage company,” said ONK Therapeutics Chief Executive Officer Chris Nowers.
About Intellia Therapeutics
Intellia Therapeutics, a leading clinical-stage genome editing company, is developing novel, potentially curative therapeutics leveraging CRISPR-based technologies. To fully realize the transformative potential of CRISPR-based technologies, Intellia is pursuing two primary approaches. The company’s in vivo programs use intravenously administered CRISPR as the therapy, in which proprietary delivery technology enables highly precise editing of disease-causing genes directly within specific target tissues. Intellia’s ex vivo programs use CRISPR to create the therapy by using engineered human cells to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. Intellia’s deep scientific, technical and clinical development experience, along with its robust intellectual property portfolio, have enabled the company to take a leadership role in harnessing the full potential of genome editing to create new classes of genetic medicine. Learn more at intelliatx.com. Follow us on Twitter @intelliatx.
About ONK Therapeutics
ONK Therapeutics is an innovative cell therapy company dedicated to developing the next generation of optimally engineered, off-the-shelf, natural killer (NK) cell therapies. With a growing pre-clinical pipeline targeting both hematological malignancies and solid tumors, ONK is advancing multiple cell therapy candidates towards the clinic, including its lead program, ONKT102, an optimized affinity CD38 CAR-NK product, intended for the treatment of patients with relapsed/ refractory multiple myeloma. Read about the pipeline here.
The company’s optimally engineered NK cell therapy platform utilizes a suite of proprietary gene edits and cell modification strategies to optimize cytotoxic potential, persistence and the metabolic health of NK cells, while reducing the potential for their exhaustion in the tumor microenvironment. These include CISH knockout (KO); the expression of high affinity, membrane bound, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand variants (TRAILv) targeting DR5 or DR4; and the deletion of inhibitory receptors, including extracellular proteins for example CD96, and Siglec-7. Read about the platform here.
ONK Therapeutics is headquartered in the med-tech hub of Galway, Ireland, with a wholly owned US subsidiary, ONK Therapeutics, Inc. based at JLabs @ San Diego. Shareholders include Acorn Bioventures, Cormorant Asset Management, ALSHC (principally Seamus Mulligan), and Enterprise Ireland.
Learn more at www.onktherapeutics.com. Follow us on Twitter @ONKTherapeutics and LinkedIn.
SOURCE: Intellia Therapeutics
Post Views: 35
- Collaboration combines Intellia’s genome editing platform with ONK’s optimized natural killer (NK) cell therapy platform
- Intellia grants ONK non-exclusive rights to its ex vivo genome editing and LNP delivery technologies and exclusive rights to certain guide RNAs for up to five allogeneic CRISPR-edited NK cell therapies
- ONK is responsible for the research, clinical development and commercialization of engineered NK cell therapies derived from collaboration
- Intellia to receive global co-development and co-commercialization options for up to two CRISPR-edited NK cell therapies with lead commercialization rights in the U.S.
CAMBRIDGE, MA, USA and GALWAY, Ireland and SAN DIEGO, CA, USA I February 15, 2022 I Intellia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA), a leading genome editing company focused on developing curative therapies leveraging CRISPR-based technologies, and ONK Therapeutics Ltd., an innovative company dedicated to developing optimally engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies to cure patients with cancer, today announced a licensing and collaboration agreement. NK cells are specialized, naturally occurring immune cells that play a critical role in immune activation against abnormal cells, including cancer cells. NK cells have gained significant attention in the field of cancer immunotherapy and various approaches are being explored to effectively develop and engineer NK cell-based cancer immunotherapy.
The agreement grants ONK a non-exclusive license to Intellia’s proprietary ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing platform and its lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based delivery technologies to develop up to five allogeneic NK cell therapies. ONK will receive exclusive rights to certain Intellia guide RNAs (gRNAs) resulting from the collaboration for use in engineering those NK cell products. ONK will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development for the engineered NK cell therapies covered under the agreement. Intellia will be eligible to receive up to $184 million per product in development and commercial milestone payments, as well as up to mid-single digit royalties on potential future sales. In addition, the agreement grants Intellia options to co-develop and co-commercialize up to two products worldwide with rights to lead commercialization in the U.S. ONK retains lead commercialization rights ex-U.S. This co-development and co-commercialization option excludes ONK’s lead product ONKT-102, which is being developed for the treatment of patients with relapsed / refractory multiple myeloma, for which ONK retains sole rights. If Intellia chooses to exercise the co-development and co-commercialization option on an investigational product, in lieu of the potential royalties and milestones, Intellia will share 50 percent of any future profit and loss generated by the product.
“We look forward to working with ONK in the development of allogeneic NK cell therapies for patients with cancer. This collaboration, which combines Intellia’s industry-leading CRISPR technology platform and ONK’s expertise in NK cell technology, offers yet another powerful example of how we’re leveraging our strategic collaborations to address life-threatening diseases for patients in need,” said Intellia President and Chief Executive Officer John Leonard, M.D.
“We believe combining Intellia’s ex vivo genome editing and LNP delivery platforms with our suite of proprietary NK cell gene edits has the potential to create optimally engineered NK cells with enhanced cytotoxicity, persistence and an improved metabolic profile that hold tremendous promise to advance the treatment of both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. We are excited to partner with Intellia and are looking forward to a collaboration that allows us to continue to deliver against our strategy, as we evolve into a clinical-stage company,” said ONK Therapeutics Chief Executive Officer Chris Nowers.
About Intellia Therapeutics
Intellia Therapeutics, a leading clinical-stage genome editing company, is developing novel, potentially curative therapeutics leveraging CRISPR-based technologies. To fully realize the transformative potential of CRISPR-based technologies, Intellia is pursuing two primary approaches. The company’s in vivo programs use intravenously administered CRISPR as the therapy, in which proprietary delivery technology enables highly precise editing of disease-causing genes directly within specific target tissues. Intellia’s ex vivo programs use CRISPR to create the therapy by using engineered human cells to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. Intellia’s deep scientific, technical and clinical development experience, along with its robust intellectual property portfolio, have enabled the company to take a leadership role in harnessing the full potential of genome editing to create new classes of genetic medicine. Learn more at intelliatx.com. Follow us on Twitter @intelliatx.
About ONK Therapeutics
ONK Therapeutics is an innovative cell therapy company dedicated to developing the next generation of optimally engineered, off-the-shelf, natural killer (NK) cell therapies. With a growing pre-clinical pipeline targeting both hematological malignancies and solid tumors, ONK is advancing multiple cell therapy candidates towards the clinic, including its lead program, ONKT102, an optimized affinity CD38 CAR-NK product, intended for the treatment of patients with relapsed/ refractory multiple myeloma. Read about the pipeline here.
The company’s optimally engineered NK cell therapy platform utilizes a suite of proprietary gene edits and cell modification strategies to optimize cytotoxic potential, persistence and the metabolic health of NK cells, while reducing the potential for their exhaustion in the tumor microenvironment. These include CISH knockout (KO); the expression of high affinity, membrane bound, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand variants (TRAILv) targeting DR5 or DR4; and the deletion of inhibitory receptors, including extracellular proteins for example CD96, and Siglec-7. Read about the platform here.
ONK Therapeutics is headquartered in the med-tech hub of Galway, Ireland, with a wholly owned US subsidiary, ONK Therapeutics, Inc. based at JLabs @ San Diego. Shareholders include Acorn Bioventures, Cormorant Asset Management, ALSHC (principally Seamus Mulligan), and Enterprise Ireland.
Learn more at www.onktherapeutics.com. Follow us on Twitter @ONKTherapeutics and LinkedIn.
SOURCE: Intellia Therapeutics
Post Views: 35
