The biotherapeutics developer, a UCSF spinout, raised funds from backers like cancer immunotherapy developer Kite Pharma, a UCLA spinout.
US-based biotherapeutics provider Cell Design Labs, a spinout from University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has amassed $34.4m from investors including cancer immunotherapy developer Kite Pharma.
As part of the capital infusion, Cell Design and Kite, a spinout from University of California, Los Angeles, formed a strategic partnership. Kite is genetically engineering a type of white blood cell known as T cells that when deployed can restore the immune system’s ability to recognise and eliminate tumours.
Investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers led the round, which also featured venture capital funds Osage Venture Partners and Mission Bay Capital.
Founded in 2015, when the company spun out of UCSF, Cell Design makes use of human cell engineering technology developed in the laboratory of co-founder Wendell Lim, chair of the cellular and molecular pharmacology department at the university.
Cell Design is working on therapies to treat a range of cancers, starting with hematologic cancer and solid tumors, using technology that may eventually be used to fight complex diseases such as autoimmune and degenerative disorders.
This technology uses cell control modules, a kind of “on/off switch” that when delivered to living immune cells programs them to recognise and destroy malignant threats without harming nearby tissues.
Under the terms of the research collaboration and licence agreement signed with Kite, Cell Design will develop “on/off switches” for Kite’s pipeline of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells. CARs are proteins produced by genetically engineered T cells, which enable the cells to identify specific antigens found in tumour cells.
Kite will hold exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialise CAR T-cell therapies containing Cell Design’s “on/off switches” to treat acute myeloid leukemia.
In addition, Kite will have the exclusive option to develop and commercialise CAR T-cell products containing “on/off switches” aimed at treating malignancies in B cells, another type of white blood cell.
Brian Atwood, co-founder, president and CEO of Cell Design, said the company is “building on a sophisticated understanding of cell-to-cell interactions to discover and develop the next generation of more targeted, powerful, and controllable immunotherapies”.
Arie Belldegrun, chairman, president and CEO at Kite, also sits on Cell Design’s board of directors. Belldegrun, along with life sciences-focused investment firm Alta Partners and investment bank Commerce Street Capital, are among Kite’s investors.
