TAE Life Sciences and AIVITA Biomedical Announce Strategic Partnership to Advance Development of Target Boron Drugs for Glioblastoma
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif.— January 4, 2023—TAE Life Sciences (TLS), a biological-targeted radiation therapy company developing next-generation boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), and AIVITA Biomedical, Inc. (AIVITA), a biotech company specializing in innovative stem cell applications, today announced a partnership to address an unmet need in glioblastoma treatment. Acquiring significant amounts of quality glioblastoma tissue samples has long been a barrier in developing novel cancer therapeutics, with samples often plagued by misleading signals such as dead cells, normal cells and extracellular matrix. The enriched glioblastoma tumor initiating cells (TICs) provided by AIVITA may become targets for novel boron target drugs for future BNCT treatments.
“We are thrilled to partner with AIVITA and leverage their ability to identify, isolate and expand high-purity populations of target cell types for therapeutic and diagnostic application,” said Bruce Bauer, PhD, CEO of TAE Life Sciences. “This partnership underscores the potential that TAE Life Sciences’ next generation targeted boron drugs and low-energy accelerator-based neutron source holds as a treatment for patients living with the most difficult to treat cancers.”
Under the terms of the partnership, AIVITA will provide TICs isolated and expanded from glioblastoma bulk tumors in sufficient quantities as cryopreserved live cell lines to be used by TAE Life Sciences for therapeutic target identification. Among the tumor targets to be identified are cancer biomarkers and biomarkers discovered through genomic analysis that may be novel or unique to an individual patient.
“Advancements in biomarker capture and identification remain an elusive but critical step in improving cancer care,” said Hans S. Keirstead, PhD, CEO of AIVITA Biomedical. “I believe this merging of our two leading-edge technologies will lead to meaningful progress in that effort.”
About AIVITA Biomedical
Founded in 2016 by pioneers in the cell therapy industry, AIVITA Biomedical, Inc. utilizes its expertise in stem cell growth and directed, high-purity differentiation to enable safe, efficient and economical manufacturing systems which support its therapeutic pipeline. Our cancer immunotherapy targets the seed of all cancers, tumor-initiating cells, with a unique pan-antigenic approach that targets all neoantigens specific to the patient’s cancer. Our patient-specific cancer treatments have shown tremendous promise including eradicating tumors, without harmful side effects in melanoma, and renal cell cancer, and prolonging progression-free survival in glioblastoma. Our COVID-19 Vaccine Enabling Kit is targeted to emerging nations enabling point-of-care vaccine production in minimally equipped facilities by minimally trained third-party technicians.
About TAE Life Sciences
TAE Life Sciences (TLS) is a privately held biotechnology company committed to developing a new biologically targeted radiation therapy based on Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). TLS is developing the next generation targeted boron drugs and low-energy accelerator-based neutron source – optimized for an in-hospital BNCT program that can one day treat patients with the most aggressive and recurrent cancers. We have assembled a world-class, cross-functional team of clinicians, radiation oncologists, physicists, and other researchers to enable us to bring our technology to cancer patients who need it most. TLS’s target drugs and neutron radiation system are currently in development and have not been approved for sale. More information about TAE Life Sciences is available at www.taelifesciences.com.