Tech Transfer Roundup: Athenex, PDS Align With National Cancer Institute On Oncology R&D

Athenex, Inc.announced a licensing agreement on 9 November with the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand its development capabilities for T-cell receptor (TCR)-based allogeneic natural killer T (NKT) cell and autologous T cell therapeutic products for the treatment of human cancers. Under the agreement, Athenex obtains worldwide rights to the development, manufacturing and commercialization of allogeneic NKT products engineered via viral and non-viral means, as well as autologous TCR products engineered via retrovirus and lentivirus-mediated gene transfer.

The TCRs licensed from NCI recognize antigens derived from mutations in p53, KRAS and EGFR genes shared among multiple patients...