Full Press Release Details
Anderson Cancer Center and Cellectis Announce a Broad Preclinical and
Clinical Strategic Alliance in Cancer Immunotherapy
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--September 3, 2015--Regulatory News:
Cellectis (Paris:ALCLS) (NASDAQ:CLLS) (Alternext: ALCLS - Nasdaq: CLLS),
the gene editing company employing proprietary technologies to develop
best-in-class CAR T-cell products in adoptive immunotherapy for cancer,
and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have entered into
a research and development alliance aimed at bringing novel cellular
immunotherapies to patients suffering from different types of liquid
The alliance is aimed at developing novel cancer immunotherapies based
on Cellectis' allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) platform. MD
Anderson Cancer Center's leukemia and myeloma teams will work with
Cellectis to bring better treatments to patients suffering from cancers
with high unmet needs, particularly multiple myeloma (MM), acute
lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and
blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN).
The alliance will build on MD Anderson's outstanding translational and
state-of-the-art preclinical and clinical teams in leukemia and myeloma,
coupled with Cellectis' first-in-class allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy
approach and manufacturing capabilities, to pursue the development of
Cellectis' candidate products UCARTCS1, UCART22, UCART38 in T-cell ALL
and UCART123 in a rare non curable disease BPDCN. Cellectis has built an
allogeneic CAR T-cell approach based on proprietary gene editing
technologies, aimed at developing off-the-shelf cellular therapies for
At MD Anderson, the alliance will be brought forward under the direction
of Hagop Kantarjian, MD, Chair, Department of Leukemia, and Robert
Orlowski, MD, PhD, Department Ad Interim Chair, Department of
Lymphoma/Myeloma. MD Anderson's Leukemia Department is known for its
clinical trials and patient treatment using chemotherapies, tyrosine
kinase inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies.
"We are extremely proud to have our research teams partnering with MD
Anderson as we aim to address treatments for different types of liquid
tumors," said Mathieu Simon, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer at Cellectis. "This alliance could potentially drive
to 5 clinical developments within a time horizon of 3 years. Together,
we are confident that we will quickly bring new therapeutic solutions to
"Our efforts are always focused on providing more effective care for our
patients," said Kantarjian. "Alliances such as this one are one more way
that we can explore how to bring the latest therapies to the patients
"Significant unmet medical need exists in many types of liquid tumors.
Cellectis is committed to changing patient expectations as we're
building a portfolio of candidate products in immune-oncology through
our own research and key collaborations such as with MD Anderson," said
Andr Choulika, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of
Cellectis. "We're highly encouraged by the potential of our product
candidate pipeline to deliver innovative, best-in-class treatment
options to patients."
"Immunotherapy is increasingly a significant element in cancer
treatment," said Orlowski. "It is my hope that patients with multiple
myeloma and other cancers will benefit through this alliance."
Cellectis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing
immunotherapies based on gene edited engineered CAR-T cells (UCART). The
company's mission is to develop a new generation of cancer therapies
based on engineered T-cells. Cellectis capitalizes on its 15 years of
expertise in genome engineering - based on its flagship TALEN products
and meganucleases and pioneering electroporation PulseAgile technology -
to create a new generation of immunotherapies. CAR technologies are
designed to target surface antigens expressed on cells. Using its
life-science-focused, pioneering genome-engineering technologies,
Cellectis' goal is to create innovative products in multiple fields and
with various target markets. Cellectis S.A. is listed on the Nasdaq
Market (ticker: CLLS) and on the NYSE Alternext market (ticker: ALCLS).
To find out more about us, visit our website: www.cellectis.com
TALEN is a registered trademark owned by the Cellectis Group.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as
one of the world's most respected centers focused on cancer patient
care, research, education and prevention. The institution's sole mission
is to end cancer for patients and their families around the world. MD
Anderson is one of only 44 comprehensive cancer centers designated by
the National Cancer Institute (NCI). MD Anderson is ranked No. 1 for
cancer care in the U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospital's" survey.
It has ranked as one of the nation's top two hospitals since the survey
began in 1990, and has ranked first 11 of the past 14 years. MD Anderson
receives a cancer center support grant from the NCI of the National
Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672).
This press release and the information contained herein do not
constitute an offer to sell or subscribe, or a solicitation of an offer
to buy or subscribe, for shares in Cellectis in any country. This press
release contains forward-looking statements that relate to the Company's
objectives based on the current expectations and assumptions of the
Company's management only and involve risk and uncertainties that could
cause the Company to fail to achieve the objectives expressed by the
forward-looking statements above.
For more information about Cellectis:
Jennifer Moore, 917-580-1088
Caitlin Kasunich / Dixon Moretz, 212-896-1241 /
Simon Harnest, 646-385-9008
VP Finance and Investor