Celularity Inc. and Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. announced they have entered into a research collaboration to evaluate placental derived-cellular therapies targeting receptor-tyrosine kinase-like Orphan Receptor 1 (ROR1). As part of the collaboration, Celularity will explore the use of Oncternal's ROR1-targeted monoclonal antibody, cirmtuzumab, in combination with Celularity's natural killer cells. ROR1 targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) gene modification will also be explored in Celularity's CYNK natural killer cell and CyCART T cell platforms in preclinical studies.

ROR1 is highly expressed by multiple solid tumors and hematological malignancies and confers both an aggressive phenotype and survival advantage to the tumor cells. Cirmtuzumab binding to ROR1 on leukemia and lymphoma cells decreases tumor cell proliferation and survival by blocking Wnt5a-induced activation, while it does not bind to adult tissues. Celularity will evaluate the use of cirmtuzumab in combination with CYNK-101, a placental derived-allogeneic NK cell therapy that has been genetically engineered to synergize with therapeutic antibodies.

As part of the collaboration, Celularity will also evaluate ROR1-targeted CAR-NK and CAR-T cell therapies as extensions of its CYNK and CyCART programs, respectively.