panCELLa receives research and development support for cell therapy

TORONTO, April 7, 2020 /CNW/ - panCELLa is pleased to announce that it will receive advisory services and up to $400,000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to help further research and development of its technology platforms for cell therapy.

Support from NRC IRAP will go toward the research and development of a two-step safety switch known as panKiller. While panCELLa's safety switch, known as FailSafe(TM), is specifically designed to eliminate only "rogue" or deregulated therapeutic cells, the panKiller system further enhances this platform and provides a means to remove a graft entirely once it has fulfilled its therapeutic purpose. When the therapeutic cells are no longer required, and to avoid serious adverse events, for further safety measures they would be eliminated using panKiller. The panKiller strategy is an effective solution that addresses serious limitations of current cell therapies which involve removal of these therapeutic cells through irradiation. panKiller will enable more prolonged, effective treatment in vivo; and will destroy the therapeutic cells at the appropriate time without the use of radiation to prevent the possibility of a malignancy.

About panCELLa

Founded in 2015, panCELLa is a privately-held early-stage biotechnology firm based on the innovative technology developed in Dr. Andras Nagy's lab at the Sinai Health System (SHS). panCELLa has created platforms that allow for the development of safe, universal, cost-effective, "off-the-shelf" cell lines. panCELLa's mandate is to accelerate cell-based therapies to a broad range of diseases by providing safe therapeutic cell products. panCELLa has secured partnerships with several biotechnology partners to enhance its patent position and provide expanded access to its exclusive FailSafe(TM) and Stealth Cells(TM) and its in-licensed SAFE harbor technology. panCELLa aims to develop therapeutic products in the immunology, mesenchymal stem cell and pancreatic islet space and to partner with other companies to develop novel products in other areas of regenerative medicine. panCELLa continues its internal R&D efforts to develop additional novel uses of its platform technologies in areas such as bio-production, cancer vaccination and tolerization. To learn more about panCELLa's FailSafe(TM) and induced Allogeneic Cell Tolerance, please visit https://pancella.com

SOURCE panCELLa Inc.