Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium - Celyad (Euronext Brussels and Paris, and NASDAQ: CYAD), a leader in the discovery and development of engineered cell therapies, with clinical programs in cardiovascular disease and immune-oncology today announced the issuance of United States Patent No. 9,181,527 ("US Patent 9,181,527") relating to allogeneic human primary T-Cells that are engineered to be T-Cell Receptor (TCR)-deficient and express a Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR).
The US 9,181,527 Celyad Allogeneic Patent significantly strengthens Celyad's patent portfolio in the CAR T-Cell field and its leadership in engineered cell therapy since the granted product claims are not limited to specific CARs or specific methods of generating allogeneic CAR T- Cells, such as genome editing or genetic engineering. The patented products are applicable for use in treating various human disease conditions such as cancer, chronic infectious diseases, and autoimmunity.
Allogeneic technology has the potential to broaden the therapeutic applications of CAR T-Cell immunotherapies by enabling the development and manufacturing of "off-the-shelf"treatments.
Dr. Christian Homsy, CEO of Celyad, commented: "We are pleased to have obtained the 9,181,527 Patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for allogeneic T-Cells engineered to express a CAR, and we are pursuing patents in other geographies as well. To our knowledge, this is the very first patent covering TCR-deficient CAR T-Cells. The Company intends to maximize the significant therapeutic potential of our allogeneic CAR-T technology platform, either on our own or potentially through one or more strategic collaborations."
Dr. Frederic Lehmann, VP Immuno-Oncology, added: "Our current autologous NKG2D oncology clinical trial is going well and we look forward to potentially following this with an allogeneic platform into the clinic. This technology has applications beyond cancer and allows us to explore other diseases such as autoimmune disorders and chronic infections."
Celyad currently has pre-clinical studies underway to develop allogeneic cancer therapies by using a TCR Inhibitory Molecule, or "TIM", in combination with a next generation CAR construct that incorporates a natural killer receptor. This proprietary process results in an off-the-shelf "weaponized" TCR-deficient NK CAR T-Cell aimed at eliminating or greatly reducing graft- versus-host-disease (GVHD).