Fortress Biotech Subsidiary Helocyte Announces Option Agreement with City of Hope for Exclusive Worldwide Rights to use a Novel Bispecific CMV/HIV CAR T Cell Therapy (optionally in combination with Triplex) for the Treatment of Adults Living with HIV-1
MIAMI, Oct. 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Helocyte, Inc. (“Helocyte”), a subsidiary company of Fortress Biotech, Inc. (“Fortress”) (Nasdaq: FBIO), today announced that it executed an exclusive option agreement with City of Hope for patent rights to use Triplex, a cytomegalovirus vaccine, in combination with cytomegalovirus (“CMV”)-specific, Anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus (“HIV”) Chimeric Antigen Receptor (“CAR”) (collectively, CMV/HIV-CAR) T Cells for the treatment of adults living with HIV. Triplex was initially developed by City of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, and exclusively licensed to Helocyte in 2015.
- Triplex was initially developed by City of Hope , one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States, and exclusively licensed to Helocyte in 2015.
- Additionally, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (“CIRM”) recently awarded a $11.3 million grant to City of Hope to fund a Phase 1 clinical trial.
- The trial will initially enroll at City of Hope and University of California at San Diego.
- The study illustrated the potential long-term durability of the combination therapy, which induced therapeutic immune cells to take hold in bone marrow.