Novartis Licenses Stem-Cell Platform for Cell Therapy Portfolio

Novartis has entered a research collaboration with Regenerex in order to enlarge the scope of its novel cell therapy portfolio.

The company will license Regenerex’ hematopoietic stem cell-based Facilitating Cell Therapy (FCRx) platform which, on top of being used in the transplant field, will be used to investigate a number of genetic deficiencies.

“As the field of biomedicine sits on the cusp of a new transformation, we are excited to announce this agreement which supports the Novartis leadership position in cell therapy,” said Novartis’ Global Head of Development, Dr. Timothy Wright.

“Thirty years ago, Novartis developed ciclosporin, which changed transplantation treatment paradigms and enabled countless lives to be saved. Now, this collaboration, along with our internal cell therapy assets, has the potential to transform medicine once again through innovation.”

The platform is set to broaden Novartis’ cell therapy portfolio, which includes CTL019, a chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy currently in Phase II development for leukemia.