24 February 2023 - - US-based biotechnology company Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: LCTX) (TASE: LCTX) has entered into an exclusive option and license agreement with Eterna Therapeutics Inc for the development of novel beta 2 microglobulin -deficient induced pluripotent stem cell lines, which Lineage will evaluate for development into differentiated cell transplant therapies, the company said.

The new cell lines to be developed by Eterna will support the potential creation of additional product candidates at Lineage, specifically for the treatment of certain central nervous system disorders and other neurology indications.

Eterna is the exclusive licensee of the key intellectual property underlying this collaboration from its discovery partner Factor Bioscience.

Under the Agreement, Eterna plans to conduct certain gene-editing activities and provide materials to Lineage for evaluation.

The Agreement provides Lineage an option to obtain an exclusive license to utilize and sublicense the novel gene-edited cell lines for preclinical, clinical, and commercial purposes in the field of CNS diseases.

A feature of the starting cell line is the targeted deletion of the B2M gene, which is designed to reduce the immunogenicity of product candidates derived from the lines by inhibiting rejection by CD8+ T cells.

Lineage expects this attribute will expand the edited cell lines' overall utility, including for non-immune privileged or non-human leukocyte antigen matched indications.

Additional planned gene edits may further differentiate the cell line from others currently in use by competitors. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet medical needs.

Lineage's programs are based on its robust proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated in-house development and manufacturing capabilities.

With this platform Lineage develops and manufactures specialized, terminally differentiated human cells from its pluripotent and progenitor cell starting materials.

These differentiated cells are developed to either replace or support cells that are dysfunctional or absent due to degenerative disease or traumatic injury or administered as a means of helping the body mount an effective immune response to cancer.

Lineage's clinical and preclinical programs are in markets with bn dollar opportunities and include five allogeneic product candidates: OpRegen, a retinal pigment epithelial cell therapy in Phase 2a development for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, is being developed under a worldwide collaboration with Roche and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries; VAC2, a dendritic cell therapy produced from Lineage's VAC technology platform for immuno-oncology and infectious disease, currently in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer; ANP1, an auditory neuronal progenitor cell therapy for the potential treatment of auditory neuropathy; and (v) PNC1, a photoreceptor neural cell therapy for the potential treatment of vision loss due to photoreceptor dysfunction or damage.

Eterna Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company committed to realizing the potential of mRNA cell engineering to provide patients with transformational new medicines.

Eterna has in-licensed a portfolio of over 100 patents covering key mRNA cell engineering technologies, including technologies for mRNA cell reprogramming, mRNA gene editing, the NoveSlice and UltraSlice gene-editing proteins, and the ToRNAdo mRNA delivery system from Factor Bioscience.

NoveSlice, UltraSlice, and ToRNAdo are trademarks of Factor Bioscience.

Founded in 2011, Factor Bioscience develops technologies for engineering cells to advance the study and treatment of disease.

Factor's gene-editing technologies enable the precise deletion, insertion, and repair of DNA sequences in living cells to correct disease-causing mutations, make cells resistant to infection and degenerative disease, modulate the expression of immunoregulatory proteins to enable the generation of durable allogeneic cell therapies, and engineer immune cells to more effectively fight cancer.

Factor's cell-reprogramming technologies enable the generation of clonal lines of pluripotent stem cells that can be expanded and differentiated into any desired cell type for the development of regenerative cell therapies.