NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Life Technologies today said that it has signed an agreement to supply Novartis with its Dynabeads for use in immunotherapeutics being developed by the drug firm for cancer.
The agreement includes a license to Life Tech's intellectual property to perform the resulting therapy and it is exclusive for use in the field of chimeric antigen receptors for the treatment of cancer. Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Novartis is developing personalized immunotherapeutics, whereby blood cells are removed from a cancer patient. Then, the T cells are isolated and activated, they are genetically modified so the cells recognize and attack cancer cells, the T cells are expanded, and then re-introduced into the patient.
Under the terms of the deal, the Dynabeads will be used by Novartis to isolate, activate, and expand the T cells.
"The collaboration with Novartis highlights the distinct capabilities that Life Technologies can provide in the therapeutic realm," Life Tech Chairman and CEO Greg Lucier said in a statement. "Taken with our previous announcements of companion diagnostic collaborations, the current agreement demonstrates how Life is uniquely positioned to facilitate drug development through alliances with pharma."