LIfT and Minaris will work together to develop a manufacturing process for LIfT’s allogeneic neutrophil progenitor cell therapy.
LifT Biosciences, a British pharmaceuticals company, and Minaris Regenerative Medicine, a German contract development and manufacturing service provider specializing in cell and gene therapies, announced a manufacturing and development partnership on Feb. 16, 2023. Per the terms of the agreement, the companies plan to develop a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant manufacturing process to supply LIfT’s clinical trial programs for its N-LifT cell therapy in Europe; these trials are currently slated to begin in the first quarter of 2024.
N-LifT is a neutrophil progenitor-based leukocyte infusion therapy which is being evaluated for pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and other solid tumor cancers. According to a company press release, the drug's unique mechanism of action allows it to work through the innate immune pathway while also activating multiple other factors of the adaptive immune system.
“Following very strong preclinical results, we are now moving into producing GMP grade product as we prepare for clinical trials early next year. Our mission to destroy all solid tumors irrespective of where the tumor is or how it adapts is looking more and more achievable,” said Alex Blyth, CEO, LIfT BioSciences, in the release. “We are confident that Minaris’ extensive track record in process development, clinical, and commercial manufacturing will generate a scalable and cost-effective GMP-process and accelerate our clinical readiness.”
“We are excited about our partnership with LIfT BioSciences and to be contributing to scientific progress in a new field,” said Dusan Kosijer, CEO of Minaris Regenerative Medicine, in the release. “We share LIfT’s enthusiasm about their unique (immunomodulatory alpha neutrophils) and their demonstrated enhanced cytotoxic and immunomodulatory properties.”
Source: Minaris Regenerative