The company has announced two exclusive license agreements with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center related to MAGE-A4 and VGLL1 targeting allogeneic “off-the-shelf” TCR-NK cell therapies for the treatment of various solid cancers.

Under the agreements Zelluna will have exclusive rights from MD Anderson to use characterized TCRs targeting MAGE-A4 and VGLL1 for the development and commercialization of TCR-NK products, states the company in a press release.

“These agreements allow Zelluna to exclusively develop TCR-NK products against multiple cancers, highlighting our overall strategy to build on our pipeline with validated TCRs through in-licensing, partnerships and our recently initiated internal TCR discovery,” says Namir Hassan CEO of Zelluna.

TCR-NK products

TCR-NK products are a novel class of allogeneic cellular therapies that combine the inherent killing mechanism, efficiency, and the allogeneic nature of NK cells with the targeting capabilities of TCRs. Targeting NK cells with TCRs may unlock the potential to treat a wide range of currently untreatable cancers.

“These agreements mark an important milestone in the development of the pipeline for Zelluna. MAGE-A4 is emerging as one of the most promising clinically validated TCR targets for solid cancers.”

“These agreements mark an important milestone in the development of the pipeline for Zelluna. MAGE-A4 is emerging as one of the most promising clinically validated TCR targets for solid cancers. Recent autologous TCR-T data demonstrates responses across multiple solid tumors, and we are very excited by the prospect of developing an allogeneic TCR-NK product against this target. VGLL1 represents an exciting recently described novel antigen overexpressed in multiple solid tumors with high unmet need,” says Anders Holm, COO / Head of BD at Zelluna.

Photo of Namir Hassan: Copyright Stig Jarnes