Shoreline Biosciences and BeiGene collaborate on genetically modified natural killer cell therapies
The partnership will focus on a portfolio of NK-based cell therapeutics, using San Diego, California-headquartered Shoreline’s iPSC-derived NK cell tech. Shoreline will receive an upfront cash payment of $45m from BeiGene with the potential for additional development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments.
Shoreline’s proprietary platform focuses on iPSC-derived natural killer (NK) cells and macrophages that are optimized with precise and rational genetic reprogramming. The Shoreline NK cell and macrophage-based cell therapies are designed to provide ‘an effective and efficient means for targeting and killing tumors as well as repairing tissue homeostasis’.
Shoreline champions the approach as one that can create a streamlined, affordable and scalable manufacturing process that will delivery cell therapy treatments to patients in a more cost-effective and time-saving manner.
It sees the potential of the tech to treat a wide range of diseases including cancer, inflammatory and genetic diseases.
BeiGene will gain commercial rights for the portfolio globally, with Shoreline having an option to retain US and Canadian rights commercialization rights for two targets. BeiGene will lead global clinical development, while Shoreline will take charge of clinical manufacturing.
Under the agreement, BeiGene also has an option to acquire an equity stake in Shoreline in its next round of equity financing.
John V. Oyler, Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of BeiGene, says the collaboration will help the company expand its pipeline of medicines from small molecule and antibody therapeutics to off-the-shelf cell therapies – ‘a compelling area of research that has been primarily out of reach for many of the world’s patients’.
“We look forward to collaborating with Shoreline, a leading company in developing iPSC-derived allogeneic cell therapies, as we combine our protein engineering technologies with Shoreline’s standardized NK cell therapy technology," he said. "We are hopeful that this combination, along with our clinical development expertise for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies, will bring cell therapies to more patients who need them.”
iPSC-Derived Cell Therapy Manufacturing Platform
Shoreline’s core cell therapy platform is designed to produce a homogenous population of optimized, fully functional immune cells.
By cloning a select master iPSC-derived NK cell with its new optimized genetic signature, Shoreline can amplify this superior NK cell creating unlimited homogenous quantities of the living cell therapy. These cells are then cryopreserved and stored, ready to treat any number of patients within hours.
“With all this originating from a single cell product, we have a scalable process, with reduced time and cost, that can treat any number of patients,” says the company.
