June 6, 2023 – Boston, Massachusetts. WuXi Advanced Therapies (WuXi ATU), a global Contract Testing, Development and Manufacturing Organization (CTDMO), and T-MAXIMUM today signed a strategic collaboration agreement. WuXi ATU will provide integrated testing, development and manufacturing and IND filing services for T-MAXIMUM’s UCAR-T product MT-027.
MT-027 is a universal allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy product targeting B7-H3 for the treatment of recurrent high-grade glioma. It has obtained Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“We are delighted to be a strategic partner with WuXi ATU,”said Dr. Xiaoyun Shang, CEO of T-MAXIMUM. “T-MAXIMUM’s mission is to develop UCAR-T product for patients in need, and we are glad to take the full advantage of WuXi ATU’s CTDMO platform to accelerate MT-027 testing, process development, manufacturing and IND filing. In the future, we also desire to deepen our collaboration on more pipeline products.”
Xiaoping Wang, Co-founder and Director of T-MAXIMUM, and Dr. Yong Fan, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs, attended the signing ceremony and visited the WuXi ATU’s Philadelphia site.
“We are grateful for T-MAXIMUM’s trust in WuXi ATU to provide integrated CTDMO services for T-MAXIMUM’s UCAR-T product MT-027. UCAR-T, as an important modality of cell therapy products, has great potential to offer patients more readily available ‘off-the-shelf’ cell therapy treatment.” Edward Hu, Chairman and CEO of WuXi ATU said, “WuXi ATU will work together with T-MAXIMUM to accelerate MT-027’s development to bring this life saving treatment to patients in need efficiently.”
T-MAXIMUM & WuXi Advanced Therapies Contract Signing Ceremony. The second on the left is Edward Hu, Chairman and CEO of WuXi ATU, the third on the left is Dr. Angela Chen, Chief Business Officer of WuXi ATU , the first on the left is Dr. David Chang, former Chief Technology Officer of WuXi ATU, and the third on the right is Dr. Xiaoyun Shang, CEO of T-MAXIMUM, the first on the right is Xiaoping Wang, Co-founder and Director of T-MAXIMUM, the second on the right is Dr. Yong Fan, Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs of T-MAXIMUM.
About MT027
MT027, an allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (UCAR-T) therapy targeting B7-H3, is prepared using T cells from healthy donors. As a next-generation off-the-shelf CAR-T product, MT027 can be immediately and readily available for patients, addressing the common challenges of autologous cell therapies such as lengthy preparation cycles, insufficient capacity, and patients’ T cells not meeting the manufacturing criteria, which often result in many patients unable to receive CAR-T therapy timely. Additionally, the expected medical costs are significantly reduced, relieving patients’ financial burden.
MT027 is developed through genetic modification techniques, where CAR targeting B7-H3 is expressed on the surface of gene-edited T cells, which avoids the GvHD and HvGR that may arise from interactions between exogenous T cells and the patient’s own immune system with promising safety and efficacy in the treatment of recurrent high-grade gliomas.
T-MAXIMUM Biotech
T-MAXIMUM Biotech is dedicated to the development of universal cellular drugs, exploring the treatment of “incurable” diseases with cellular drugs as the ultimate form of medication. The team is composed of renowned experts in the field of immunotherapy and gene editing and senior industry professionals in the field of biopharmaceuticals. The company’s core technology platform, gene-edited allogeneic immunotherapy, adopts the 3.0 version of its completely independent intellectual property rights to achieve allogeneic universal CAR-T cell therapy, addressing the risk of graft-versus-host disease and rejection of allogeneic immune cells, and the obtained allogeneic CAR-T cells persist well in patients. The company is currently focusing on advanced malignant tumors, and its first product pipeline for recurrent gliomas has achieved validation of efficacy and safety in preliminary clinical studies. The company plans to promote the launch of at least one product to the market and multiple products into clinical phase II in the next five years.
T-MAXIMUM Biotech always adheres to the corporate philosophy of “integrity innovation, quiet water flowing deep, and collaborative integration”, overcoming the difficulties to solve the clinical problem of no cure, to be the real original innovation, and to be a globally leading innovative company in cell therapy, to provide the means for “incurable” diseases.
About WuXi Advanced Therapies (WuXi ATU)
As the advanced therapies business unit of WuXi AppTec, WuXi Advanced Therapies is a Contract Testing, Development and Manufacturing Organization (CTDMO) that offers integrated platforms to transform the discovery, development, testing, manufacturing, and commercialization of cell and gene therapies. Our services and solutions accelerate time to market and support customer programs around the world. For more information, please visit www.advancedtherapies.com