Eterna Therapeutics Inc. announced the acquisition of the global immuno-oncology platform of Exacis Biotherapeutics. The acquisition complements Eterna’s core business with a pipeline of allogeneic immuno-oncology products under development for the treatment of hematologic and solid tumors and provides Eterna with an exclusive global license to produce an unlimited number of mRNA-engineered natural killer (NK) and T-cell therapies derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
“We are excited to bring this powerful platform into Eterna. With Exacis’ pipeline of engineered iPSC-derived cell therapy candidates, we believe Eterna is well-positioned to develop more effective, targeted and highly differentiated medicines to treat cancer,” said Matt Angel, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Eterna. “We believe that combining the Exacis and Eterna technologies de-risks our approach and supports a capital-efficient path to develop highly competitive cancer therapeutics.”
Gregory Fiore, M.D., President and CEO of Exacis, and member of Eterna’s Board of Directors, commented, “Exacis was started with the goals of improving patient outcomes and experiences as well as increasing access to life-saving treatments. Today’s announcement marks a key milestone on the path to achieving these goals. The Eterna Board and leadership are committed to and have been working toward these same goals, and we believe that this acquisition provides Eterna with the tools required to develop next-generation therapies targeting indications of high unmet need, including blood cancers and solid tumors.”
The technology underlying Exacis’ platform uses mRNA cell reprogramming and mRNA gene editing to create engineered iPSC-derived cells for use in the development of cancer therapies that can target nearly any cancer antigen. In contrast to DNA-based reprogramming and gene editing, the mRNA-based approach does not expose cells to expensive and potentially harmful viruses or DNA vectors. Eterna plans to use Exacis’ platform to develop engineered cell therapies containing genomic edits designed to enhance their performance.
Dr. Fiore will chair a newly added committee on Eterna’s Board focusing on business development, and Eterna’s team will be joined by Exacis’ Chief Business Officer, Dimitrios Goundis, Ph.D., who will advise the Company on business development matters. Dr. Goundis is a highly experienced scientist and biotech executive, formerly the Head of Research and Development at The Medicines Company (now Novartis) as well as former CEO of the clinical stage cancer vaccine company, Maxivax S.A. Eterna plans to continue working with the esteemed physicians and scientists who serve on Exacis’ Scientific Advisory Board and who will advise Eterna on the development of products based on Eterna’s suite of mRNA cell engineering technologies.
The terms of the acquisition include an upfront payment in shares of Eterna common stock, as well as milestone and other potential payments totaling up to $49.0 million.
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