HANGZHOU, China–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hangzhou Qihan Biotechnology Co., Ltd, an innovative biotechnology company dedicated to applying genome editing technology to cell therapies and organ transplants, today announced preclinical data from its NK cell programs, presented during the poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
NK cells derived from genetically engineered human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great potential to become the next-generation allogeneic cell therapy products.
“We are excited to share the promising data with the community, as we believe that we can utilize our platform to advance the cell therapy medicine to the patients,” said Dr. Luhan Yang, CEO of Qihan Biotech. “The data presented in one poster highlight the “Super NK” cells, genetically engineered with enhanced NK function, demonstrating superior killing capacity against blood and solid tumors. Additionally, we presented our immune privileged cell therapy platform in a non-human primate model in a separate poster. Creating a library of monkey iPSCs with up to 21 genetic modifications to evade allogeneic immune rejection and successfully differentiating them into functional monkey NK cells provided us with the unique translational opportunity to study NK Pharmacokinetics (PK) and Pharmacodynamics (PD).”
Poster Presentations:
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Functional natural killer cells derived from engineered hiPSC with hypoimmunity gene combo demonstrate hypoimmunity features in evading host attacks.
Session: OPO.TB02.01 – Stem Cell Biology -
“Super NK cells” – natural killer cells derived from engineered hiPSC with enhanced NK receptor expression demonstrate excellent anti-tumor effects for solid tumors.
Session: PO.TB02.02 – Stem Cells and Regulatory Pathways in Cancer
About Qihan Biotech
Qihan Biotech is a biotech company applying genome-editing technology to develop novel cell therapies and organs for transplantation. The company’s mission is to use high-throughput, multiplexable genome editing combined with expertise in transplantation immunology to create immunologically privileged allogeneic cells and xenogeneic organs for use as therapies to treat cancer, organ failure, and other complex medical conditions. With a vision to create a world in which cell and organ therapies are universally available to patients, Qihan Biotech has raised two rounds of financing and is advancing its cell therapy programs into IND enabling investigations. Qihan Biotech is headquartered in Hangzhou, China. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.qihanbio.com.
Forward-looking Statements
This release contains statements including, but not limited to, Qihan’s research development and/or relevant programs, its past, ongoing, and planned research studies, and the potential of Qihan’s research candidate. These and any other statements in this release are based on Qihan management’s current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that Qihan’s research program may not warrant further development, the risk that results observed in prior studies of Qihan’s research candidates will not be observed in ongoing or future studies involving these candidates, the risk of a delay or difficulties in the developing or transforming of Qihan’s research candidates, the risk that Qihan may cease or delay the research development of any of its candidates for a variety of reasons. Qihan is providing the information in this release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Information concerning therapies and related products contained herein is not intended as medical advice.