NZ-Chinese venture takes aim at cancer
Long-term partnership to drive promising therapies through development pipeline
Kiwi and Chinese scientists have teamed up in a multimillion-dollar biotech venture driving toward cancer breakthroughs. Wellington Zhaotai Therapies, a venture between China-based Hunan Zhaotai Medical Group and Wellington’s Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, will push for developments in an area of oncology known as CART cell immunotherapy.
This process involves taking a patient’s “T cells” and using a particular virus to genetically alter them to express a specific receptor — a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) — on the cell surface.
The cells are then enriched and administered to the patient to target the tumour.
“Our collaborators in China have a substantial pipeline of therapies that have undergone initial clinical trials in China and are now ready to be developed under a Western regulatory environment here in New Zealand,” Malaghan director Professor Graham Le Gros said.
“This would then [lead] to international trials and regulatory approval.”
The Malaghan Institute already had an international reputation as an immunology research centre, and had received millions of dollars from organisations such as the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).
“This track record of investment was a key element in demonstrating our ability to deliver to our partners in China, along with the support we receive from our generous philanthropic donors,” Le Gros said.
HRC chief executive Professor Kath McPherson said the new ven- ture, announced in Wellington yesterday, showed long-term health research investment could have “huge” health and economic benefits.
“This partnership will bring cutting-edge new cellular therapies into New Zealand,” she said.
“It will also attract offshore investment into New Zealand research and development, and pave the way for more collaborations with China who will be an increasingly influential force in health research.”
Meanwhile, another New Zealand biotech innovation also aimed at cancer is headed for human clinical trials.
BioLineRx Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology and immunology, this month announced it had acquired UK company Agalimmune Ltd, which held a deal with AUT spin-out Kode Biotech.
Kode’s star technology, developed by AUT scientist Professor Steve Henry, is a compound called AGI-134, a synthetic alpha-Gal immunotherapy in development for solid tumours.
The compound harnesses the body’s highly abundant anti-alphaGal antibodies to induce a systemic, specific anti-tumour response to the patient’s own tumour neo-antigens.
This response not only kills tumour cells at the site of injection, but also brings about a durable, followon, anti-metastatic immune response.
AGI-134 had completed numerous pre-clinical studies, demonstrating robust protection against development of secondary tumours in a model of melanoma with a single dose only.
AGI-134 was in near-clinical development and was expected to commence a first-in-man study in patients with solid tumours in the first half of next year.