On September 25, 2023 CytoMed Therapeutics Limited (NASDAQ: GDTC) ("CytoMed" or "Company"), a Singapore-based biopharmaceutical company focused on harnessing its proprietary technologies to develop novel donor-derived cell-based allogeneic immunotherapies for the treatment of various cancers, reported that its exclusively licensed induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based technology has been granted a patent by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) (Press release, Cytomed Therapeutics, SEP 25, 2023, View Source [SID1234635394]).
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"We’re thrilled to strengthen our existing suite of patents," said Peter Choo, Chairman of CytoMed. "Now this novel iPSC-based technology has been granted patent in China and Japan (where the iPSC technology was pioneered in 2006). Such progress further expands the Company’s current patent portfolio to three countries, consisting of and including patents granted in the US and China for our licensed allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor gamma delta T cell (CAR-γδ T cell) technology which is expected to start phase I clinical trial in Singapore soon."
For cancer treatment, immune cells such as γδ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells are invaluable therapeutic cells due to their ability to express an array of built-in receptors that recognize stress-induced cancer antigens naturally.
By combining the iPSC technology and directed differentiation, CytoMed can generate a novel type of synthetic hybrid immune cells, γδ NKT cells, that express cancer recognition receptors of both γδ T cells and NK cells to recognize a wide range of cancers without genetic modification or use of viral vectors. As an allogeneic cell source, the Company’s iPSC-derived γδ NKT cells may potentially become an "off-the-shelf" cell therapy that is applicable to a large pool of patients.
The patent titled "Methods and Kits for Generating Mimetic Innate Immune Cells from Pluripotent Stem Cells" with Patent No. ZL201880022790.X, published as CN 110691844 B, covers technologies to derive novel synthetic γδ NKT cells for the treatment of various types of cancers including hematological malignancies and solid tumors. This asset is currently under preclinical development. The Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to use this patent pursuant to the Licence Agreement dated June 1, 2018, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as an exhibit to the registration statement on Form F-1 (File No.: 333-268456) on March 30, 2023.