Japan’s Gaia BioMedicine Teams Up With TreeFrog Therapeutics To Advance NK-Like Cell Therapies

Japan-based Gaia BioMedicine is partnering with French biotech TreeFrog Therapeutics for the expansion of donor-derived NK-like cells. 

The collaboration will make use of Gaia’s off-the-shelf immune cell therapies, which rely on GAIA-102 NK-like cells, and TreeFrog’s C-Stem technology platform, a biomimetic cell culture platform which allows for the mass-production of stem cell-derived therapies. 

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GAIA-NK Cells Target Solid Tumors 

Gaia was founded in 2015 by Professor Yoshikazu Yonemitsu as a spin-off of Kyushu university. It has since matured into a clinical stage biopharma focused on advancing NK-like cell programs in solid cancers. In 2021, the company raised ¥1.3 billion (around $9.7 million) in a Series B funding round with participation from Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical, Osaka University Venture Capital, SBI Investment, and CEJ Capital. 

Similar to NK cells, Gaia’s NK-like cells are generated from allogeneic cells with a donor recipient human leukocyte antigen (HLA)/ killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) mismatch. Unlike typical NK cells, Gaia-NK cells express multiple chemokine receptors and adhesion molecules, which help them accumulate and stay in solid tumors, thereby extending their efficacy. 

GAIA-102, the company’s lead candidate, has entered early clinical trials in three different formulations, each targeting different groups of cancers. GAIA-102 (iv) targets non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), GAIA-102 (ip) targets gastric and pancreatic cancers, and GAIA-102 (iv+ pretreatment) targets neuroblastomas. 

“With 3 ongoing clinical trials, GAIA is one of the world’s most advanced cell therapy companies in the field of solid tumors. They have a very compelling allogeneic immune cell therapy strategy, which relies on GAIA-102 NK-like cells – a specific population of immune cells isolated from healthy donor blood samples that exhibit strong anti-tumor cytotoxic potency,” said Frederic Desdouits, Ph.D., CEO of TreeFrog. Gaia’s innovative approach, combined with the C-Stem platform, could lead to fast and broad patient access to cell therapies against solid tumors, he added. 

The C-Stem platform generates cell culture microenvironments that can be scaled up to larger bioreactors without changing key parameters. According to TreeFrog, the platform preserves genomic integrity and results in mature cell phenotypes, thereby enhancing the safety of cellular products. C-Stem also delivers functional micro tissues, which are shown to improve integration of grafts and reduce the time the medicine takes effect. 

The scalability of the platform is an advantage, as highly prevalent cancers such as lung cancer require the mass production of immune cells. 

“In our case, TreeFrog’s C-Stem technology could enable the massive expansion of GAIA-102 (NK-like cells) in conventional stirred-tank bioreactors, while maintaining its desired function and phenotype,” said Kazuyuki Kuramori, President and CEO of GAIA BioMedicine. 

“In the process of further developing our adoptive immune cell therapy programs and expanding their therapeutic reach, C-Stem could constitute an alternative platform for large-scale GMP manufacturing.”

Author

Joy Lin

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