Aiming for a best-in-class solution to treat and cure B-cell driven autoimmune diseases
GENEVA, May 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Antion Biosciences (Antion), a Geneva-based cell and gene therapy company developing "off-the-shelf" cell therapies, announces the development of next generation anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells for B-cell driven autoimmune diseases.
Autoimmunity affects up to 10% of the global population, and the overall burden of care is believed to well-exceed US $120 billion per annum. Recent findings indicate that targeted CAR T-cell therapy is very effective in severe cases of autoimmune disease. According to pioneer, Prof. Dr. Georg Schett, one of Time Magazines Most Influential People in Health, "Not only are the patients in drug-free remission, but I believe many are cured of their autoimmune disease." The findings have sparked the interest of numerous groups, including the likes of Novartis to pursue the opportunity.
Dr. Marco Alessandrini, PhD, CEO of Antion, believes this signals a paradigm shift in the way autoimmune disease will be treated in future, offering unique opportunities to create life-transforming therapies for millions. "Our approach is to anticipate the future need and develop a product that will stand the test of time."
Antion's "miCAR19" is a multiplex engineered therapeutic, designed to address key constraints of existing products in development. First and foremost, it addresses the question of patient safety. Chemotherapeutic pre-conditioning is the status quo for all CAR T-cell products in oncology; but this is not desirable, and in most cases unacceptable, for treating patients with autoimmune disease. Antion's safety-enhanced product is gene engineered to circumvent the need for pre-conditioning, while also mitigating further hyperinflammatory risks. Being an allogenic product, it not only enables off-the-shelf provision, but also facilitates scaled manufacturing to meet the global demand for this potentially curative therapy.
"This is the start of a new chapter in Antion. Our technology platform has shown its worth in our hands and in the hands of our partners, so I'm convinced we will develop a robust product. Progressing it to clinic as rapidly as possible is our number one priority," noted Dr. Alessandrini.
About Antion Biosciences
Antion Biosciences SA is a Swiss-based biotechnology company developing cell and gene therapy products for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical needs. Antion's proprietary technology platform allows for a modular and tunable approach to multiplex engineering of therapeutic cells. Through development of off-the-shelf and immune privileged products, our vision is to broaden access to these life-changing therapies for all patients. For more information, please visit https://www.antionbio.com.
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Please note: This announcement can contain forward-looking statements based on current expectations and projections about future events. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to, market conditions, industry trends, and operational risks.
Antion Biosciences Contact
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Antion Biosciences SA
Chemin des Aulx 12, CTN12
1228 Plan-les-Ouates
Geneva
Switzerland
