Allogene Therapeutics Enters Research Collaboration Directed at Enhancing Future Cancer Immunotherapies

Allogene Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic CAR T therapies for cancer, announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with Stanford University to investigate a novel nucleic acid delivery system developed by Stanford researchers to more effectively, safely and flexibly deliver intracellular RNA or DNA into lymphocytes, including T cells. Allogene intends to explore the use of this technology to advance the field of AlloCAR T therapy.

The Charge-altering Releasable Transporter system developed by Stanford professors and described in foundational research, is designed to resolve several challenges associated with existing physical, viral and nanoparticle nucleic acid delivery methods. During the research collaboration, Stanford researchers will design and optimize tools and reagents for ex vivo cell engineering for Allogene to evaluate in terms of efficiency, cell viability, cytotoxicity and functional cell performance.

“Collaborations between academia and industry are critical to the acceleration and success of scientific innovations, and we are excited to evaluate this potentially transformative technology to create the next generation of cell manufacturing,” said David Chang, M.D., Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Allogene. “We believe the combination of Allogene’s strong technical expertise in designing AlloCAR T therapies combined with Stanford’s gene delivery technology could lead to the creation of new therapies that have the potential to make a meaningful difference in the lives of many patients.”

Leading the research are Robert Waymouth, Ph.D., Robert Eckles Swain Professor in Chemistry at the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical Engineering; Paul Wender, Ph.D., Francis W. Bergstrom Professor of Chemistry at the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology; and Ronald Levy, M.D., Robert K. and Helen K. Summy Professor at Stanford School of Medicine and Professor of Medicine.