July 25, 2022
T Cell Nouveau Ltd.
Announcement of a business alliance agreement with Kojin Bio Co., Ltd. on CMO (contract manufacturing organization) and CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) business to support CAR-T cell preparation and manufacturing
T Cell Nouveau Co., Ltd. (Headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo and represented by CEO, Kiyoshi Inoguchi, hereinafter "the Company") have concluded a business alliance agreement with Kojin Bio Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Sakado City, Saitama, President: Takahito Nakamura, hereinafter "Kohjin Bio").
While the CAR-T cell therapy, represented by Kymriah® (approved in Japan in 2019), has shown breakthrough efficacy in the treatment of refractory leukemia and malignant lymphoma, this kind of approach faces challenges to achieve comparable efficacy for solid tumors. Among these challengers, the company is focusing on the research and development for a novel TCR-like CAR-T (hereinafter, "Hybrid CAR-T”) cell therapy against solid tumors. Through partnering with Kojin Bio as more than a contract manufacturer, the Company aims to bring Hybrid CAR-T cells to market and contribute to the growth and expansion of regenerative medicine.
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About Kojin Bio Co., Ltd.
Kojin Bio Co., Ltd. was established in April 1981 and has been developing its business on tissue culture media, in-vitro diagnostic reagents, microbiological testing media and cell processing businesses. In recent years, it has focused on the development of culture solutions used in regenerative medicine and antigen testing kits for the new coronavirus, and is now working on further expansion in the field of regenerative medicine.
About T Cell Nouveau Inc.
T Cell Nouveau Inc. is a new Mie University spin-out venture company that develops Hybrid CAR-T cell products using patented technology exclusively licensed from Mie University.
About Hybrid CAR-T
The leading CAR-T product of the Company is targeting tumor-specific antigen called MAGE-A4.
Conventionally, tumor-specific T cells, which play a central role in immune function against cancer, are known to recognize cancer cells by their T Cell Receptor (TCR) and destroy them.
Moving forward, its joint research partner at Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Personalized Cancer Immunotherapy (https://shikuken.jp), has discovered an antibody that can recognize MAGE-A4 just as TCR is doing and has engineered new Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells with it. Phase 1 clinical trial of this Hybrid CAR-T in Japan is currently underway (Trial ID: jRCT2043210077).