Century Therapeutics, an innovative biotechnology company developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapies in immuno-oncology, announced today that the company has been notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the Company’s ELiPSE-1 clinical study may proceed to assess CNTY-101 in patients with relapsed or refractory CD19 positive B-cell malignancies. CNTY-101 is the first allogeneic cell therapy product candidate engineered with four powerful and complementary functionalities, including a CD19 CAR for tumor targeting, IL-15 support for enhanced persistence, Allo-Evasion™ technology to prevent host rejection and enhance persistence and a safety switch to provide the option to eliminate the drug product if ever necessary. CNTY-101 is manufactured from a clonal iPSC master cell bank that yields homogeneous product, in which all infused cells have the intended modifications.

“This IND clearance is a significant milestone for Century as we execute on our vision to merge two disruptive platforms, precision gene editing and the powerful potential of iPSCs, to potentially move the allogeneic cell therapy field forward, and continue on our path to becoming a leader in the space,” said Lalo Flores, Chief Executive Officer, Century Therapeutics. “We believe that CNTY-101, our first and wholly owned product candidate, will be the most technically advanced and differentiated CD19-targeted cell product when it enters the clinic, which is anticipated to occur later this year. We look forward to assessing the potential of Allo-Evasion™ to prevent immunological rejection and enhance persistence of multiple dosing of CNTY-101 regimens with the aim to increase the proportion of patients that achieve durable responses.”

“CNTY-101 is the first allogeneic cell product candidate with six genetic modifications incorporated using sequential rounds of CRISPR-mediated homologous recombination and repair that has received IND clearance by the FDA,” said Luis Borges, Chief Scientific Officer, Century Therapeutics. “We believe CNTY-101 will demonstrate the power of Century’s iPSC technology and cell engineering technology platforms. This accomplishment is a testament to the expertise and dedication of our team as we continue to make progress developing our pipeline of iPSC-derived NK and T cell product candidates.”

The Phase 1 trial, ELiPSE-1 (NCT05336409), is intended to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and preliminary efficacy of CNTY-101 in patients with relapsed or refractory CD19-positive B-cell malignancies. All patients will receive an initial standard dose of conditioning chemotherapy consisting of cyclophosphamide (300 mg/m2) and fludarabine (30mg/m2) for 3 days. Schedule A of the trial includes a single-dose escalation of CNTY-101 and subcutaneous IL-2. Schedule B will evaluate a three-dose schedule per cycle of CNTY-101. Patients who demonstrate a clinical benefit are eligible for additional cycles of treatment with or without additional lymphodepletion pending FDA consent. We anticipate initiation of the Phase 1 trial later this year.

SourceGlobe Newswire

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