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In the global wave of biotechnology development, cell therapy, as one of the most revolutionary medical breakthroughs, is leading transformations in cancer treatment, immune disease treatment, and other fields. Companies within Zhongguan Village Life Science ParkHuaxia Yingtai, as a pioneer in China's cell therapy field, has gained prominence on the international stage with its innovative technology platform and outstanding R&D capabilities.
Two Decades of Dedication, Pioneering STAR-T Technology
Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was founded and led by Professor Lin Xin, a world-renowned molecular immunologist.Professor Lin Xin has深耕超20年 in the field of T-cell immunotherapy and has published over a hundred papers. After teaching for many years at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in the United States, he returned to China in 2014 with the ideal of serving his country through science. He then began the preliminary technical research and development of CAR-T and TCR-T at Tsinghua University.At that time, the field of cellular immunotherapy in China was full of opportunities but also faced many challenges. While traditional CAR-T technology had achieved certain results in the treatment of specific hematological tumors, it encountered significant difficulties in the treatment of solid tumors; although TCR-T technology had unique advantages, issues such as limited mechanisms for recognizing targets remained.Professor Lin Xin and his team keenly realized that in order to make breakthroughs in the field of cellular immunotherapy, they must take an alternative path. In the laboratories at Tsinghua University, after countless days and nights of dedicated research and exploration, they innovatively developedSTAR-T Technology Platform. This platform integrates the advantages of CAR-T and TCR-T, preserving the natural activation signals of T cells,Make edited T cells more like natural T cells, demonstrating excellent performance in recognition sensitivity, tumor infiltration ability, and other aspects.。
At the beginning of 2018, Professor Lin Xin, Dr. Zhao Xueqiang, and other like-minded partners, with the ambition of "rooting in China to benefit patients worldwide," founded Huaxia Yingtai (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Since its inception,Huaxia Yingtai focuses on the development and commercialization of innovative gene-edited T-cell immunotherapy products., committed to addressing the "unmet clinical needs" of patients with cancer and other diseases.
Two Core Technologies Empower, Research Achievements Bear Fruit
Huaxia Yingtai's STAR-T technology platform, fully known as the Synthetic TCR and Antigen Receptor technology platform, is one of the company's core technologies transferred from Tsinghua University and further developed in depth. Its design is inspired by in-depth research on the structure and function of B-cell receptors and T-cell receptors.
When T-cell receptors recognize antigens, they are restricted by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, whereas B-cell receptors recognize antigens without MHC restriction. Professor Lin's research team boldly hypothesized whether it would be possible to modify the TCR structure so that it is not restricted by MHC while maintaining the cascade amplification and signal transduction effects of the TCR’s natural signaling pathway.After extensive experimentation and screening, they adapted the variable region of the TCR based on the structure of the BCR variable region. Meanwhile, they performed gene mutations on the constant region and intracellular region of the TCR, adding functional elements to ultimately form the unique structure of STAR. In principle,STAR-T contains the antigen recognition domain of an antibody and the constant region of a TCR, which, when combined with the endogenous CD3 signaling mechanism, enables STAR-T to potentially inherit the high affinity and specificity of its parent antibody while maintaining the signaling capability of the natural TCR complex.。Compared with traditional CAR-T technology, STAR-T technology has obvious advantages.It is more characteristic of natural T cells, has natural dual targets, fewer side effects, less prone to exhaustion, strong infiltration, and is more likely to achieve a breakthrough in solid tumor treatment.。In addition to the STAR-T technology platform, Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has also collaborated with Changping National Laboratory to developTargeted Integration TechnologyThis is a disruptive breakthrough technology for gene-editing T cells, which can use electroporation and non-electroporation techniques to knock out the T-cell receptor (TCR) to reduce rejection while inserting the STAR gene at the TCR site.Low T-cell damage, easy to scale up industrially, low cost; and the expression of STAR can compensate for the defect caused by the knockout of endogenous TCR, developing a revolutionary universal T-cell product on this platform.Relying on the STAR-T core technology platform, Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has developed multiple autologous product pipelines.
In the field of hematological tumor treatmentHuaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. successively obtained targets in 2022 and 2024.CD19/CD20 STAR-TAndLILBR4 STAR-TIND clinical trial implied permission in China for two products; Clinical data from the product pipeline were successively reported at the 2020 ASH, 2021 EHA, 2023 AACR, and 2024 ASH international authoritative conferences.
In the field of solid tumor treatment, Huaxia Yingtai and other units such as Peking University Cancer Hospital have collaborated to carry outSeveral IIT studies targeting advanced solid tumors such as liver cancer and gastric cancerAmong them, the GPC3 STAR-T research targeting advanced recurrent metastatic solid tumors has preliminarily demonstrated good clinical efficacy, gained high recognition from clinical researchers, and jointly undertaken one key R&D project of the Ministry of Science and Technology and two key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Notably, the company has developed in the past two years based onTargeted Integration TechnologyAllogeneic universal cell therapy products, CD19 STAR-TIn exploratory clinical studies targeting SLE and lupus nephritis patients, "stunning" clinical efficacy was achieved.
Rooted in China, Reaching Out to the World
Huaxia Yingtai, based on the characteristics of cell drug development, collaborates with top clinical directors from first-class hospitals in China to conduct exploratory clinical research and efficiently optimize products, aiming to develop the most effective drugs at China speed.Recently, Huaxia Yingtai (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. participated in the co-construction of"Beijing Key Laboratory of Solid Tumor Cells and Gene Therapy"Successfully selected into the 2024 list of key laboratories recognized by Beijing Municipality, demonstrating the company's initial achievements in promoting clinical research and product development for solid tumor cell therapy.
In addition to occupying an important position in the Chinese market, Huaxia Yingtai (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is also actively expanding into the international market.Currently, the company is establishing strategic partnerships with multiple internationally renowned pharmaceutical companies and research institutions to jointly advance the research and development and commercialization of cell therapy technologies.Huaxia Yingtai's development model, which focuses on original innovation, not only enhances the company's technical barriers but also enables it to compete globally with international giants, showcasing the innovative capabilities and overseas potential of China's biotechnology enterprises.In addition,Huaxia Yingtai Actively Participates in International Academic Exchanges, showcasing research findings multiple times at top academic conferences such as ASH, EHA, and AACR, and subsequently publishing scholarly articles in journals like "Sci Transl Med," "Am J Hematol," "Immunity," and "Cell Reports," further enhancing the company's influence in the global cell therapy field.With the rapid growth of the global cell therapy market, Huaxia Yingtai (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is embracing unprecedented development opportunities. As a pioneer in China’s cell therapy field, Huaxia Yingtai brings new hope to patients worldwide with its innovative technology platforms and robust R&D capabilities. In the near future, Huaxia Yingtai is expected to become a leader in the global cell therapy sector, making greater contributions to human health.
