Cell therapy weekly: Neuroplast secures US$11.5 million to further advance its stem cell therapy for traumatic spinal cord injury
This week: Neuroplast secures US$11.5 million to further advance its stem cell therapy for traumatic spinal cord injury, CGT Catapult’s Annual Review highlights opportunities created across the UK cell and gene therapy industry, and CRISPR Therapeutics announces FDA Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation granted to CTX110™.
The news highlights:
- Neuroplast secures US$11.5 million to further advance its stem cell therapy for traumatic spinal cord injury
- CGT Catapult’s Annual Review highlights opportunities created across the UK cell and gene therapy industry
- CRISPR Therapeutics announces FDA Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation granted to CTX110™
Neuroplast secures US$11.5 million to further advance its stem cell therapy for traumatic spinal cord injury
Clinical phase biotech company, Neuroplast (Geleen, Netherlands) has raised a total of US$11.5 million in a funding from investors Lumana Invest, Brightlands Venture Partners, LIOF and the Innovation Credit from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
The Series B funding will help advance the clinical development of a transformative treatment for traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI). The investment will also help the company obtain conditional EMA market approval for its Neuro-Cells® stem cell therapy, a treatment that uses the patient’s own stem cells to prevent further loss of function during the acute phase after sustaining damage to the spinal cord.
Vincent The, Chief Financial Officer at Neuroplast, said: “This funding enables us to complete the Neuro-Cells development pathway for TSCI. With the recent successful completion of our Phase I study, we now have both a good clinical as well as a solid financial foundation in place. This puts us in a great position to start exploring the broader potential of the Neuro-Cells technology platform for other primarily inflammation-driven neurological disorders. For these activities, we are seeking complementary investment.”
CGT Catapult’s Annual Review highlights opportunities created across the UK cell and gene therapy industry
The recently published 2021 Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) Annual Review has highlighted its key successes in the field and listed various initiatives for investment opportunities in the UK cell and gene therapy industry.
This year, Innovate UK has funded CGT Catapult to collaborate with 25 universities and research institutes and 88 companies, including seven at the CGT Catapult Stevenage facility, which is the largest cell and gene therapy cluster outside of the US. The organization has also up-skilled 3,800 people through their programs.
The UK is a particularly popular location for the field, as 29% of European ATMP companies have chosen it as its place of choice to set up activities.
Matthew Durdy, CEO of CGT Catapult, said: “The past year has highlighted the CGT Catapult’s growing, positive impact across the UK cell and gene therapy sector, which has gone from strength to strength despite the COVID-19 pandemic. With the continued support from Government channeled through Innovate UK, the UK remains the place for ATMP development and manufacture, as evidenced by continued international investment and partnerships with the CGT Catapult and our collaborators.”
Access the 2021 review here.
CRISPR Therapeutics announces FDA Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation granted to CTX110™
Biopharmaceutical company, CRISPR Therapeutics (Zug, Switzerland) has announced that the FDA has granted Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation to CTX110™, its allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy targeting CD19+ B-cell malignancies.
RMAT designation enables the expedition of drug development and review processes for pipeline products, including genetic therapies. A regenerative medicine therapy is eligible for designation if it is intended to treat, modify, reverse or cure a disease, and clinical evidence indicates that it has the potential to address unmet medical needs for such a condition.
“This RMAT designation is based on the encouraging clinical data we have presented thus far, and it is an important milestone that recognizes the transformative potential of CTX110™ for the treatment of hematological malignancies,” said Samarth Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer of CRISPR Therapeutics. “We look forward to working closely with the FDA as we continue our efforts to bring this important new therapeutic modality to patients.”
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