MaxCyte Signs Strategic Platform License With Intima Bioscience to Advance Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes Programs

MaxCyte, Inc. recently announced the signing of a strategic platform license (SPL) with Intima Bioscience, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing genetically engineered cell therapies for solid tumor cancer. Intima joins a group of 15 other leading cell therapy companies who have partnered with MaxCyte.

Under the terms of the agreement, Intima obtains non-exclusive clinical and commercial rights to use MaxCyte’s Flow Electroporation technology and ExPERT platform. In return, MaxCyte is entitled to receive platform licensing fees and program-related milestone payments.

Intima is currently running a Phase 1/2 clinical study (NCT04426669) of its lead checkpoint cell therapy candidate, which targets the immune checkpoint CISH in patients with gastrointestinal and colon cancers.

“As we advance our innovative eTIL CISH knock out programs, we are preparing for the future by securing access to MaxCyte’s industry leading cellular engineering technology,” said Alessandro Riva, M.D., Intima CEO.

Doug Doerfler, President and CEO of MaxCyte, added “We are proud to be working with Intima, a cell therapy leader leveraging the unique power of genetically engineered tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (eTIL). This relationship represents an important achievement for MaxCyte as it expands the use of our next-generation technology platform to support engineering in additional novel cell types.”

MaxCyte’s ExPERT instrument portfolio is the next generation of leading, clinically validated, electroporation technology for complex and scalable cell engineering. By delivering high transfection efficiency, seamless scalability and enhanced functionality, the ExPERT platform delivers the high-end performance essential to enabling the next wave of biological and cellular therapeutics. Intima Bioscience is MaxCyte’s 16th SPL, which generate pre-commercial milestone revenue and the vast majority of which include post-commercial revenue.

MaxCyte is a leading commercial cell-engineering company focused on providing enabling platform technologies to advance innovative cell-based research as well as next-generation cell therapeutic discovery, development and commercialization. Over the past 20 years, we have developed and commercialized our proprietary Flow Electroporation platform, which facilitates complex engineering of a wide variety of cells. Our ExPERT platform, which is based on our Flow Electroporation technology, has been designed to support the rapidly expanding cell therapy market and can be utilized across the continuum of the high-growth cell therapy sector, from discovery and development through commercialization of next-generation, cell-based medicines. The ExPERT family of products includes: four instruments, the ATx, STx, GTx, and VLx; a portfolio of proprietary related processing assemblies or disposables; and software protocols, all supported by a robust worldwide intellectual property portfolio.

Intima Bioscience is a company advancing checkpoint cell therapy, an approach that combines the use of patients’ own immune cells with immune checkpoint targeting, in solid tumors with curative intent. Intima is currently running a Phase 1/2 clinical study of its checkpoint cell therapy, which targets the immune checkpoint CISH in patients with gastrointestinal and colon cancers.