Shenzhen Third People's Hospital and Enkay Biopharma Forge Strategic Collaboration to Advance NK Cell Therapy for Neurodegenerative Diseases Including Alzheimer’s
NK CellTech
Immune Cell Therapy Developer
On December 5, 2024, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology) and Shanghai EnCay Cell Technology Co., Ltd. ("EnCay Therapeutics" for short) officially signed a cooperation agreement aimed at exploring the clinical value of NK cell therapy in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. This marks a solid step forward in the field of biotherapy, one of the "three key pillars" of Shenzhen Third People's Hospital. It also represents another new area of exploration for EnCay Therapeutics following its research collaboration agreement on innovative studies of NK cell therapy in autoimmune diseases, serving as a new milestone in the company’s continuous efforts in scientific research cooperation and clinical studies across various disease areas. In attendance at the signing ceremony were Xu Yong, Party Secretary of Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, President Lu Hongzhou, Vice President Zhang Zheng, Chief Accountant Li Yiping, EnCay Therapeutics founder Academician Tian Zhigang, CEO Fang Fang, Vice President of Science and Strategy Zhang Cai, and Director of R&D Wang Ting.
Signing Ceremony
At the signing ceremony, Tian Zhigang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and founder of Enkaicell, stated: "We are very pleased to have reached this cooperation with Shenzhen Third People's Hospital. By combining Enkaicell's cutting-edge technology in NK cell therapy and the profound clinical research capabilities of Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, we look forward to bringing an entirely new approach to the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases."
Xu Yong, the Party Secretary of the hospital, emphasized the importance of cooperation: "Shenzhen Third People's Hospital has always been committed to combining medical innovation with clinical practice. The collaboration with Enkaicel not only aligns with the hospital’s pursuit of medical technology advancement but will also help enhance China’s international influence in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases."
With the intensification of global aging trends, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease have become one of the significant factors affecting the health of the elderly. These diseases often lead to a decline in patients' quality of life and impose heavier burdens on families and society. The collaboration between Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital and Encai Pharmaceuticals aims to find more effective treatment solutions to improve patients’ quality of life.
The signing of this cooperation agreement represents a deep collaboration between the two institutions in scientific research and technological development. In the future, both parties will continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, jointly promoting progress in the field of degenerative disease treatment in China and even globally.
On-site Meeting
About Shenzhen Third People's Hospital
Shenzhen Third People's Hospital (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology) was established in 1985. It is a modern, Tier-3, Grade-A research hospital with "strong specialties and comprehensive services," organized by the Shenzhen Municipal Government. The hospital covers an area of 198,400 square meters, with a building area of 223,000 square meters and 2,416 authorized beds (including 1,008 negative pressure beds in the emergency ward). Currently, it has 2,121 employees, among whom 1,331 hold mid-to-senior professional titles, 166 have doctoral degrees (including post-doctorates), 515 have master’s degrees, and 90 are graduate supervisors. The hospital has independently cultivated two recipients of the National Natural Science Foundation of China's Distinguished Young Scholars within Shenzhen’s health system, as well as one recipient of the Excellent Young Scholars award. It has developed into a large-scale, well-equipped, and highly functional center for diagnosis, treatment, and research of infectious diseases in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The hospital primarily undertakes epidemic prevention and control tasks for infectious diseases in Shenzhen and surrounding areas while providing comprehensive medical services. In 2017, the hospital obtained licenses for liver and kidney transplantation; in 2018, it became one of the second batch of high-level hospitals under construction in Guangdong Province; in 2019, it was approved as the National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases (the only one in Shenzhen and the third in Guangdong Province); in 2020, it became the Shenzhen Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; and in 2022, it was approved as a “Major Public Service Platform for Biological Therapy” by the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission. In 2023, it received licenses for lung and pancreas transplantation. In the 2020 edition of the “Top 100 Hospitals in China” released in 2021, the hospital made its debut on the national list, becoming the first hospital in Shenzhen to enter the Fudan version of the Top 100 Hospitals in China. Its tuberculosis specialty ranked fourth in the Fudan version of the “Comprehensive Specialty Ranking of Chinese Hospitals.” Currently, the hospital has formed “three driving forces” for innovative development: infection, organ transplantation, and biological therapy. It highlights the influence of its leading disciplines and spearheads further breakthroughs in scientific achievements.
About Enka Saiyao
Shanghai Enke Cell Technology Co., Ltd. (Enke Therapeutics) is a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative NK cell therapy technologies. Based on over 30 years of the team's exploration in NK cell basic biology, preclinical and clinical translational research, Enke Therapeutics is committed to becoming a world-leading cell therapy company with deep expertise in NK cell therapy and its cutting-edge technologies. Enke Therapeutics possesses proprietary allogeneic peripheral blood NK cell expansion, cryopreservation, and clinical "off-the-shelf" grade ABCDE-NK technology.®Industrial production platform (a single blood supply can produce trillions of NK cells), based on the technology for mining receptor/ligand targets that enable NK cells to specifically recognize tumors (NKR-NKTM) as the foundation, through synthetic immunology chassis technologies such as logic gate gene circuits (SynNKTM), achieving multi-potent, intelligent, and controllable gene editing of NK cells, enabling them to precisely target cancer cells, adapt to the tumor microenvironment, and accurately match the effector/target cells of donors and recipients. In 2024, two NK cell products from Enka Therapeutics have successively received clinical trial (IND) approval from the U.S. FDA and China's CDE. Guided by solving major clinical disease treatment challenges (cancer, autoimmune diseases, aging and degenerative diseases, immunodeficiency and related diseases, etc.), Enka Therapeutics aims to achieve precise immunotherapy. The company has developed a series of original intelligent NK cell products, striving to build an enterprise that continuously breaks through core technologies and maintains international leadership in immune cell drugs, establishing itself as the birthplace of a new generation of global NK cell therapy technologies and products.
