18 January 2018 - - Canada-based regenerative medicine specialist Feldan Therapeutics has formed a joint research collaboration with South Korea-based next generation biologics developer Green Cross LabCell (GCLC) to develop a low immunogenicity, high-performance natural killer anticancer treatment, the company said.
The project, which is part of the Canada-South Korea Science, Technology and Innovation Projects sponsored by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, aims at facilitating R and D collaboration between Canadian and South Korean innovators.
GCLC has developed the technology and expertise for the mass production of human NK cells by successfully conducting a first-in-human clinical trial using healthy donor-derived allogeneic NK cells and by developing CAR-NKs to enhance anti-tumor specificity and efficacy.
Feldan's Shuttle technology is an innovative peptide-based delivery system that enables highly efficient transduction of foreign proteins into cells. Feldan Therapeutics can use its platform to deliver CRISPR nucleases and edit the genome of human NK cells.
The collaboration combines both breakthrough technologies to develop next generations of specific and hyperactive off-the-shelf NK cells for allogeneic immuno-oncology therapies.
Feldan is dedicated to develop therapeutic applications in regenerative medicine based on its Shuttle platform which has been successfully used to transfer active nucleases and transcription factors inside several types of cells. Preliminary results in rodents suggest that the Shuttle has a promising potential for in vivo applications.
Work is currently ongoing to further develop the Shuttle technology by promoting internalization of antibodies (or antibody-like domains) in order to modulate specific cellular pathways. In addition, Feldan has an in-house therapeutic pipeline centered on the generation of hyperactive NK cells for oncology applications.
GCLC, a cell therapy-specialized company focusing on NK cell and stem cell therapeutics, is a subsidiary of Green Cross Holdings, Inc, whose subsidiaries are engaged in human vaccines, antibody therapeutics, CTL-based adoptive immunotherapy, and clinical laboratory business.
Recently, the company's advanced NK cell-based platform has been translated to a manufacturing facility. GCLC is also concentrating its efforts on research and development of stem cell therapy to treat incurable inflammatory diseases.