On October 24, 2022 Sauvie Inc., a mission-driven biopharmaceutical company focused on sustainably building an immuno-oncology company, reported Sauvie’s subsidiary, Sauvie BiKE LLC, has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey ("Rutgers") for the development and worldwide commercialization rights of a bi-specific natural killer (NK) cell engager technology in the field of oncology (Press release, Sauvie, OCT 24, 2022, View Source [SID1234627526]).
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The licensed technology is based on discoveries and invention by Arash Hatefi, PhD, Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics at Rutgers’ Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, who has over 20 years of experience in developing new cancer therapeutics and more than 50 original, peer-reviewed publications in this field.
"As an emerging biopharma organization focused on developing and commercializing critical cancer therapies, Sauvie is truly honored and excited to have this opportunity to advance the primary inventor, Dr. Hatefi’s discovery to offer great hope for people with cancer and position Sauvie to be a key player in the NK cell area," said Ken Suh, CEO of Sauvie Inc.
"We are excited by the broad potential the NK cell engager platform can offer to fight multiple tumors and help many people throughout the world," said Dr. Brian E. Jahns, Chief Operating Officer of Sauvie Inc.
"I am thrilled with the agreement and collaboration between Rutgers and Sauvie to advance my research into new nanobody formats such as bispecific natural killer cell engagers that are capable of stimulating the NK cells, amplifying not only their direct role in tumor eradication, but also their function in inducing multicellular immune responses ultimately resulting in enduring tumor control," said Dr. Arash Hatefi.
The exclusive license granted to the Company relates to a camelid nanobody that has demonstrated high affinity and high specificity to NK cells and has the potential to target multiple antigens of solid and hematologic tumors. NK cell engagers are designed to harness the power of NK cells that are present within the innate immune system and link the NK cells to receptors specific to a tumor. Several clinical research programs around the world have demonstrated the potential effectiveness of safely harnessing the NK cells to attack tumor cells.