On March 10, 2020 Century Therapeutics, developer of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived allogeneic cell therapies for cancer, reported the opening of its Seattle-based Innovation Hub to develop next-generation product candidates that overcome barriers that have limited the effectiveness of cell therapies in solid tumor cancers (Press release, Century Therapeutics, MAR 10, 2020, View Source [SID1234555375]).

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The site will advance the company’s novel iPSC science and allogeneic cell products by establishing expertise in data sciences and machine learning, synthetic biology, cancer biology and immuno-oncology. Century’s President of R&D, Hy Levitsky, M.D., will be based at the Seattle site, and together with Philadelphia-based Chief Scientific Officer Luis Borges, PhD., will oversee site operations and integration with the pipeline programs centered at Century’s Philadelphia headquarters.

"The Innovation Hub supports not only Century’s continued pipeline growth and development, but also our expansion into Seattle, a center of excellence in cell therapies," said Lalo Flores, Chief Executive Officer of Century Therapeutics. "I look forward to seeing the Century team grow, and am excited to have Luis and Hy leading the charge into this exciting new chapter."

Dr. Levitsky has extensive biotech industry experience, having previously served as Chief Scientific Officer at Juno Therapeutics in Seattle, as well as Head of Cancer Immunotherapy at Roche Pharma Research and Early Development. In addition, Dr. Levitsky earned his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University and has spent over 20 years on their faculty.

Dr. Borges has extensive cancer immunotherapy and cell therapy experience, having worked at Immunex, Amgen, Five Prime Therapeutics and Cell Medica, where as CSO he led the development of off-the-shelf CAR-cell therapies for the treatment of cancer in collaboration with the Baylor College of Medicine.

"Century’s new Seattle Innovation Hub will provide the infrastructure needed to conduct in-depth analytics of product candidates in preparation for entry into the pipeline portfolio," said Dr. Levitsky.

"The Hub will be key in realizing the potential of Century’s science to overcome limitations of first-generation cell therapies." Dr. Borges added, "The Seattle and Philadelphia research laboratories will complement each other. With our current deep expertise in iPSC biology, immunology, cell and protein engineering, the new group in Seattle will help us transition to future generation products designed to have potent anti-tumor efficacy and robust safety windows."