Agreement with Orna Therapeutics includes potential best-in-class, immune-targeting in vivo CAR-T therapies.
Eli Lilly has made a major cell therapy push, acquiring the US biotech company Orna Therapeutics for $2.4 billion.
Its deal with the Massachusetts firm will bring access to a new class of engineered circular RNA medicines designed with novel lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). This therapeutic combination allows the body to generate cell therapies to treat underlying diseases.
Dr Francisco Ramírez-Valle, PhD, Senior Vice President, Head of Immunology Research and Early Clinical Development at Lilly, said: "Early autologous CAR-T studies have shown the promise of cell therapy for patients with autoimmune diseases, but the complexity, cost and logistics of ex vivo approaches make it challenging to deliver these breakthroughs to the broader population of patients who need them.
"We look forward to working with Orna colleagues to potentially unlock an entirely new class of genetic medicines and cell therapies for patients who today have limited or no treatment options."
Experimental data from Orna suggest its approach enables durable expression of therapeutic proteins, unlocking treatments “that are not feasible with current RNA or cell therapy platforms”.
The biotech’s lead asset, ORN-252, is a CD19 targeting in vivo chimeric antigen receptor t-cell (CAR-T) therapy designed to treat B cell-driven autoimmune diseases.
At Orna, we believe our circular RNA technology paired with our best-in-class LNP delivery platform have the potential to unlock in vivo CAR-T therapies for patients across a wide range of B cell-driven autoimmune diseases"
Joe Bolen, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Orna Therapeutics, said: "At Orna, we believe our circular RNA technology paired with our best-in-class LNP delivery platform have the potential to unlock in vivo CAR-T therapies for patients across a wide range of B cell-driven autoimmune diseases."
The wider cell therapy sector has seen mixed fortunes of late. While Takeda ceased its cell therapy activities last October, Bristol Myers Squibb invested in CAR T therapy with its $1.5 billion acquisition of Orbital Therapeutics in a same month for a deal involving a pre-clinical asset targeting autoimmune conditions.
