IASO Bio and Umoja Biopharma Collaborate to Develop Off-the-Shelf Cell Therapies for Hematologic Malignancies

The collaboration will combine IASO Bio's chimeric antigen receptor (CARs) andUmojaTheiCILPlatform, to develop the next generation of ready-to-use cell therapies for the treatment of indications that are not met by standard therapies.

Nanjing, Shanghai, and San Jose, USANovember 21, 2022PR Newswire -- IASO Bio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, and manufacturing of innovative drugs, and Umoja Biopharma, Inc., an immuno-oncology company pioneering off-the-shelf integrated therapies that reprogram immune cells to treat solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, today jointly announced that they have entered into a research agreement to evaluate Umoja’s iCIL platform combined with IASO’s best-in-class CAR, to develop an off-the-shelf therapy that provides affordable and convenient treatment options for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and potentially other hematologic malignancies.

Dr. Wang Wen, CEO of IASO Bio, stated"We are delighted to partner with Umoja Biopharma. The advantages of our fully human CAR construct have been validated in clinical trials targeting multiple antigens across a wide range of hematologic malignancies. We are excited to combine our CAR construct with Umoja’s novel ShRED technology to develop next-generation off-the-shelf cell therapies at a lower cost."

IASO Bio leverages its proprietary fully human antibody discovery platform (IMARS), high-throughput CAR screening platform, execution capabilities for rapid clinical trials, and its own GMP production facilities with success rates of over 90% for plasmid, viral vector, and CAR-T cell production to screen for potential best-in-class CARs. At the same time, the company is also committed to bringing its innovative therapies to a broader global population.

"We believe that the combination of our iCIL platform and IASO Bio's CAR development will pave the way for a broader patient population to access optimal therapies for hematologic malignancies."UmojaCo-founder and CEO,Doctor of Medicine Andy ScharenbergSay,"With the advancement of medicine and science, the treatment methods for cancer patients are also improving, but we still have a long way to go. The collaboration between Umoja Biopharma and IASO Bio aims to advance the next stage of cancer treatment."

Umoja’s iPSC-based allogeneic cell therapy platform utilizes its Synthetic Receptor-Enabled Differentiation (ShRED) manufacturing process to direct the differentiation and expansion of iCILs, a novel type of innate lymphoid cell with potent anti-tumor activity. The iCILs generated by ShRED remain functional after 100 days in feeder-free culture, and since ShRED does not require feeder cells to induce effector cell expansion, these cells can maintain their proliferative capacity without the need for multiple complex raw materials.

AboutUmojaTheiCIL™ Platform: Induced Cytotoxic Innate Lymphoid Cells

Umoja's iCIL™ Platform is a novel cell production process capable of inducing large-scale differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into anti-cancer cells. These cells, known as induced Cytotoxic Innate Lymphoid Cells or iCILs, enhance the patient’s endogenous anti-tumor immune function after infusion and work synergistically with in vivo CAR-T cells generated by VivoVec. Similar to the CAR-T cells produced by VivoVec, iCILs can be genetically edited using our RACR/CAR™ and TumorTag™ platforms to support cell survival and target tumors and their stromal cells, potentially reducing adverse events and prolonging patient remission. For more information on Umoja’s platforms, please visithttps://www.umoja-biopharma.com/our-science/。