WuXi ATU and Wugen Announce Manufacturing Partnership for Novel Tumor Immunotherapy WU-NK-101 to Accelerate Development of Innovative Cell Therapy

Philadelphia, St. Louis, and San Diego, USAJune 16, 2022PR Newswire -- WuXi ATU, a CTDMO focused on cell and gene therapies, today announced a production collaboration with U.S.-based biotechnology company Wugen, Inc. for WU-NK-101, a novel immunotherapy that harnesses memory-like natural killer (NK) cells to treat cancer. WuXi ATU will provide manufacturing and testing services for WU-NK-101, enabling Wugen to bring this innovative cell therapy product to cancer patients as soon as possible.

Wugen is a clinical-stage biotechnology company located in St. Louis and San Diego, USA, dedicated to developing an "off-the-shelf" cell therapy pipeline to treat various hematologic and solid malignancies. WU-NK-101 is Wugen's proprietary Moneta platform.^TMThe first project developed on the platform. This project aims to leverage the super-strong, long-lasting anti-tumor capabilities of immune memory NK cells to commercially mass-produce a new generation of "off-the-shelf" cancer immunotherapy cells. WU-NK-101 is currently in the preclinical development stage, with plans to initiate clinical trials in the near future for the treatment of severe acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other solid tumors.

WuXi ATU's integrated CTDMO platform will provide GMP manufacturing and testing services required for cell therapy in the development of WU-NK-101, assisting with regulatory submissions and clinical trials, and empowering customers to accelerate the R&D process.

"We are delighted to collaborate with WuXi ATU," said Dr. Dan Kemp, President and CEO of Wugen, Inc. "WuXi ATU’s specialized manufacturing experience in the cell therapy field, along with its integrated GMP manufacturing and testing capabilities, will help us advance the allogeneic WU-NK-101 program rapidly into clinical trials, bringing more convenient and effective treatment options to patients sooner."

"The development of allogeneic NK cell therapy is an important step in accelerating innovative cancer treatments into clinical pipelines," said Dr. Zhang Youxiang, CEO of WuXi ATU. "We are very pleased to collaborate with Wugen to help address the challenges faced in the development of cancer therapies, improve the accessibility of innovative treatments, and benefit patients worldwide."

AboutWugen

Wugen is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing next-generation "off-the-shelf" memory natural killer (NK) cell therapies and CAR-T cell therapies for cancer treatment. Wugen is leveraging its proprietary Moneta^TMPlatform and deep expertise in genomic engineering to pioneer a new type of immune memory NK cell therapy for the treatment of blood and solid malignancies. For more information, please visit www.wugen.com.

About WuXi ATU

WuXi ATU is a CTDMO under WuXi AppTec, focusing on cell and gene therapies. It is committed to accelerating and transforming the development, testing, manufacturing, and commercialization of gene and cell therapies as well as other advanced therapies. WuXi ATU can help global customers bring more innovative therapies to market sooner, benefiting patients. For more information, please visit www.wuxiatu.com.

For more information, please contact:
Wugen
Elsie Yau
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
Tel: 212-698-8700
Email: elsie.yau@sternir.com

WuXi ATU
Sophie Lutter
Head of Scientific Marketing and Communications
Email: atu.info@wuxiapptec.com