The two partners have entered into a collaboration and exclusive license agreement to use Mogrify’s proprietary induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to develop allogeneic cell therapies.
Sangamo Therapeutics plans to utilize the stem cells with its zinc finger protein (ZFP) technology to create gene-engineered chimeric antigen receptor regulatory T cell (CAR-Treg) technology.
In return for the license to use Mogrify’s technology, Sangamo will pay an upfront fee and will be eligible to receive further additional milestone payments. A spokesperson was unable to reveal any further details on the financials.
Mogrify’s technology allows iPSCs and ESCs to be transformed using transcriptions factors or small molecules into any human cell type.
In the example of this agreement, Mogrify will be responsible for the discovery and optimization of iPSCs or ESCs to regulatory T cells, which can be transformed into novel ‘off-the-shell’ allogeneic CAR-Treg cell therapy candidates.
Mogrify states that this method of production potentially makes therapies more cost-effective.
A spokesperson told BioPharma-Reporter why this is: “The use of optimized transcription factor combinations helps to drive the change of the cell’s transcriptome and can, therefore, increase the efficiency (yield) and speed of conversion.
“This means more of the target cells can be made quicker and from a smaller amount of starting material. This includes both the source cell population and other necessary materials, such as culture media, which are costly.”
Jason Fontenot, head of cell therapy at Sangamo, stated that access to Mogrify’s technology diversifies the company’s options for developing CAR-Treg cell therapies.
In 2018, Sangamo acquired TxCell to gain the latter’s own CAR-Treg technology.
