About Us
PARTNERS
In April 2018, we entered into an asset contribution agreement for SmithKline Beecham’s Reitec DSAR T (DSAR T™) cell therapy portfolio. We are advancing the portfolio acquired from SmithKline Beecham, which includes rights to 15 preclinical DSAR T cell therapy targets licensed from SmithKline Beecham and U.S. rights to clinical candidates DSART-501 and DSBT42 licensed from Servier.
Kalson Biotech initiated its Phase 1 ALPHA study of DSART-501 in the first half of 2019 to assess safety and tolerability of DSART-501 and DSART-647, our proprietary anti-CD52 monoclonal antibody, in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). DSART-501 is being developed under a joint clinical development collaboration with Servier and is exclusively licensed from SmithKline Beecham. DSART-501 utilizes the SKMVX® gene-editing technology pioneered and owned by SmithKline Beecham. We have the exclusive rights to DSART-501 in the U.S. while Servier retains exclusive rights for all other countries.
Through our R&D partnerships with Servier and SmithKline Beecham, we are leveraging our pioneering technology platform of DSAR T™ therapy, also known as DSARs™, enhanced by SmithKline Beecham’ SKMVX® gene editing technology, to advance our portfolio of cancer therapies.
We have a joint clinical development collaboration with Servier for DSBT42, which is being developed for the treatment of adult and pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). It is exclusively licensed from SmithKline Beecham. DSBT42 utilizes the SKMVX® gene-editing technology pioneered and owned by SmithKline Beecham. We have the exclusive rights to DSBT42 in the U.S. while Servier retains exclusive rights for all other countries.
We have a joint clinical development collaboration with Adaptimmune to develop enhanced T-cell therapies that support the immune system in detecting and targeting cancer cells. Interestingly, its SPEAR T cell technology can target a variety of solid tumors – a feat that is not easy to achieve, as solid tumors have a highly complex tumor microenvironment that many immunotherapies find difficult to penetrate. .
We collaborated with ADC Therapeutics for research into its company’s proprietary ADCs combine monoclonal antibodies that are specific to targets on the surface of tumor cells with a specific class of toxins called pyrrolobenzodiazepine (PBD) dimers.
We have a joint clinical development Autolus Therapeutics. Autolus's news in January was the announcement of the clinical progress of its next-generation programmed T cell therapy. It is currently in Phase I/II for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma. The results showed no neurotoxicity and a manageable safety profile.
We have a joint clinical development collaboration with another biotech giant Ceylad. Celyad is also working in the field of CART-cell therapies but is focusing on the NKG2D receptor. Founded in 2004 in Mont-Saint Guibert, Belgium, the company’s lead immuno-oncology candidate uses the NKG2D receptor. NKG2D can bind to eight different ligands that are naturally found on cancer cells present in 80% of solid and liquid malignancies.
Something cool about NKG2D is that the ligands that it recognizes are also expressed by the tumor microenvironment, which comprises the blood vessels that support the tumor and the cells that make sure the tumor can evade the immune system. As a result, the lead candidate can target and kill the tumor as well as cleaning up its microenvironment. The candidate is currently in phase I. .
Cellectis is one of our main sponsors. Based in Paris, France, and founded in 1999, Cellectis is also focusing on CART-cell therapy. It is working on a novel type of CART therapy known as Universal CARTs (UCARTs). Unlike the two approved CAR-T therapies, Novartis’ Kymriah and Gilead’s Yescarta, UCARTs are allogeneic so rather than being personalized, they can treat a large number of patients with a particular cancer type.
We assumed from SmithKline Beecham its strategic collaboration and license agreement with SmithKline Beecham, with exclusive rights to develop and commercialize previously defined Reitec DSAR T therapy programs directed at select targets. We believe this alliance with SmithKline Beecham will lead to a strong pipeline of DSAR T™ therapies.