Oxford BioMedica plc announced that it has entered into a Research & Development Collaboration with Green Cross LabCell. The collaboration will focus on identifying and developing gene modified natural killer (NK) cell-based therapeutics for treatment of life-threatening diseases such as cancer. This collaboration brings together two clinically validated platform technologies with the aim of generating a pipeline of novel and differentiated cell-based products in areas of serious unmet medical need.

Oxford BioMedica is contributing its clinically tested LentiVector® gene delivery platform for the efficient modification of immune cells, as well as its expertise in GMP bioprocessing, clinical development and regulatory affairs in ex vivo cell & gene therapy. GCLC is contributing its clinically tested platform for production of highly potent and activated NK cells. During the initial Research Collaboration, Oxford BioMedica and GCLC will collaborate to identify potential NK cell-based product candidates, modified using lentiviral vectors.

The collaboration will focus on allogeneic CAR-NK cell-based products. Under the terms of the agreement, Oxford BioMedica and GCLC will share the costs associated with the Research Collaboration equally. Oxford BioMedica's contribution to the Research Collaboration will be funded from its existing Discovery resources and budget.

The Parties will agree which product candidates from the Research Collaboration will be taken forward into the Development Collaboration stage of the programme on a product-by-product basis. After nearly a decade of research on NK cells, GCLC has gathered a substantial body of evidence that their proprietary manufacturing platform for activated NK cells derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), such as MG4101, has potential to act as the basis for a pipeline of CAR-NK and other gene-modified NK cell products. By forming a partnership with GCLC, Oxford BioMedica gains access to one of the leading, clinically validated NK cell platforms in the industry and access to a highly skilled and experienced R&D partner in Korea, one of the most dynamic biotechnology markets in Asia.