MaxCyte collaboration to further advance CARMA

USA-based MaxCyte (AIM: MXCT) has entered into a strategic collaboration with Washington University in St Louis, a leading institution in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) research. MaxCyte and the university will develop unique immunotherapy drug candidates, based on MaxCyte's proprietary cell engineering platform technology, CARMA.

CARMA allows simple and rapid manufacture of advanced cancer treatments that utilize a patient's own immune system and is differentiated from traditional CAR therapy due to its use of mRNA to engineer immune cells delivered back into a patient. By utilizing transient expression via mRNA delivery, CARMA allows control over severe adverse effects, opening the high potency of CAR immunotherapies to a broader range of cancers than traditional CAR approaches.

MaxCyte president and chief executive Doug Doerfler commented: "This collaboration is a natural extension of our efforts in this new class of therapies, given our previously announced collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center for pre-clinical development of CAR therapy for solid cancers. Our CARMA platform shows great promise for developing therapies for patients with both solid and liquid tumor types. It provides rapid, cost-effective manufacturing and delivery of cellular therapies to patients without many of the toxicities associated with other CAR-based approaches."