Adaptimmune Therapeutics to restructure after acquisition
US WorldMeds has completed the acquisition of Adaptimmune Therapeutics’ cell therapy portfolio, including the FDA-approved engineered TCR T-cell therapy Tecelra, and three investigational therapies: lete-cel, afami-cel, and uza-cel. Under the terms of the agreement, Adaptimmune will receive $55 million in upfront cash and potential additional milestone payments totaling up to $30 million.
The acquisition ensures continued patient access to Tecelra, while US WorldMeds plans to advance the development of lete-cel and continue collaboration on uza-cel with Galapagos NV. Adaptimmune will retain its preclinical pipeline, including assets targeting PRAME, CD70, and its allogeneic T-cell platform.
As part of the transition, approximately half of Adaptimmune’s US-based employees associated with the divested programs will be offered roles at US WorldMeds. Adaptimmune will restructure its operations, including a reduction of approximately 62 percent of its remaining workforce, to focus resources on earlier-stage assets.
The transaction follows Adaptimmune’s strategic review aimed at preserving value and maintaining therapeutic access amid financial challenges.
New cell and gene therapy facility for Germany
Minaris Advanced Therapies has opened a GMP manufacturing facility in Taufkirchen, near Munich, Germany, to support the continued global expansion of cell and gene therapy production. The goal of the facility was to consolidate the company’s existing manufacturing and development activities in the Munich area, enabling more streamlined workflows and facilitating technology transfer.
The site includes six cleanrooms rated Grade B/A for aseptic processing and one adaptable cleanroom with Grade C and convertible A/B grading. It also features independent HVAC systems for each suite, process development laboratories, quality control labs, integrated safety infrastructure, cryostorage capabilities, and approximately 224 square meters of reserved space for future expansion. The facility’s proximity to Munich International Airport is intended to enhance logistical efficiency for incoming and outgoing materials.
Grants awarded to University of Minnesota
ScaleReady, in collaboration with Wilson Wolf Manufacturing, Bio‑Techne Corporation, and CellReady, has awarded $665,000 through its G‑Rex Grant Program to three investigators at the University of Minnesota's Center for Genome Engineering.
Branden Moriarity received a $300,000 grant to support technology transfer, process development, and qualification work for a novel CAR‑NK cell therapy targeting advanced epithelial ovarian cancer as part of a phase I clinical trial. Beau Webber was awarded $240,000 to support preclinical development of a novel tumor‑infiltrating lymphocyte therapy intended for treatment of various solid tumors. Joseph Skeate received $125,000 to support process development and optimization of a G‑Rex‑centric manufacturing process for a T cells therapy expressing TPP1 designed for Batten Disease, a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder that typically begins in childhood.
The grants are part of ScaleReady’s broader G‑Rex program, which has now exceeded $40 million in no‑cost product commitments and includes access to implementation support through a consortium of manufacturing and regulatory partners.
Simultaneously, ScaleReady has launched a free event series, “LEAN Cell & Gene,” in partnership with Hanson Wade to promote efficient, scalable and quality‑driven approaches to cell and gene therapy manufacturing.
Assessing blood stem cell quality
Researchers at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, have developed a method for assessing hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) quality by analyzing cell behavior in real time using live-cell imaging and deep learning. The approach involves capturing long-term time-lapse videos of individual HSCs through quantitative phase imaging, followed by extraction of kinetic features such as movement patterns, cell division timing, and morphological changes. These features are then used to train a deep neural network to predict expression levels of Hlf, a transcription factor associated with stemness and long-term repopulation capacity.
The study demonstrates that dynamic behavioral data can more accurately reflect HSC heterogeneity than conventional static analyses. Predictive accuracy increased with the duration of imaging, highlighting the relevance of long-term cell behavior in evaluating stem cell quality. The method was validated using transplantation assays, showing that cells predicted to express Hlf at high levels were more likely to engraft successfully in vivo.
The findings have potential applications in improving quality control of HSCs for clinical use, including in gene therapy and regenerative medicine settings. The full study was published in Nature Communications.
The safety of CAR-T therapy
Findings from a global pharmacovigilance study on secondary primary malignancies following CAR-T cell therapy show a statistically significant increase compared to patients who did not receive CAR-T treatment. Drawing on data from both the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System and the World Health Organization's VigiBase, the study analyzed 607 cases of patients treated with CAR-T therapies between 2017 and 2023. The analysis revealed an 8.9-fold increase in the reporting odds ratio for T-cell lymphomas and a 3.5-fold increase for myelodysplastic syndromes.
The study also found that the onset of secondary primary malignancies occurred earlier in CAR-T recipients, with a median time to onset of 282 days versus 526 days in the control group. Among patients under the age of 40, the median onset time was notably shorter at 35 days.
Based on the findings, the authors recommend more vigilant post-treatment monitoring and consideration of patient age in determining appropriate screening protocols. The study does not suggest discontinuing CAR-T therapy but emphasizes the importance of early detection and long-term surveillance in this patient population.
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