The agreement will see Thermo Fisher supply Juno with CTS Dynabeads CD3/CD28 for seven years in a nonexclusive licensing deal.
Thermo Fisher said the magnetic beads – which it makes at its manufacturing facility in Vilnius, Lithuania – activate and expand T cells specially designed to identify and combat cancer cells in patients.
“Thermo Fisher’s Dynabeads T cell expansion bead platform is already proven in commercial manufacturing, and is known for greater stability and scalability, which are critical requirements for CAR T manufacturers,” Thermo Fisher COO Mark Stevenson told us.
According to Stevenson, the firms have worked together since Juno was founded in 2013.
“Today’s announcement formalises the relationship to allow maximum collaboration to bring product to patients,” he said.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Thermo Fisher also supplies its CTS Dynabeads technology for CAR-T immunotherapies to Swiss firm Novartis.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Novartis’ CAR-T immunotherapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) in August last year, making it the first commercially available CAR-T treatment in the US.