Leucid Bio and Great Ormond Street Hospital enter commercial agreement at new gene therapy manufacturing centre

• Agreement to manufacture Leucid Lead asset, LEU011 for the treatment of solid tumours and haematological malignancies utilising facilities and quality assurance services at the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children is first-of-its-kind.
• Leucid Bio to retain IP in respect of services arising from this venture.
• Leucid Bio expects to file its CTA to initiate the clinical trial in H1 2023 and subject to regulatory approval to be dosing patients, by H2 2023.

LONDON, March 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leucid Bio ("Leucid" or the "Company"), a biotech company pursuing a differentiated approach to develop next generation Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies using the Company's proprietary Lateral CAR Platform to improve treatment outcomes and save the lives of patients with refractory cancers, today announces a first-of-its-kind commercial manufacturing master services agreement with Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) to manufacture lead asset, LEU011 a lateral CAR targeting NKG2D ligands, for use in human clinical studies. Leucid Bio expects to file its Clinical Trial Application (CTA) to initiate the clinical trial in H1 2023 and to be dosing patients suffering from solid tumours and haematological malignancies, by H2 2023, subject to regulatory approval. 

GOSH operates specialised manufacturing facilities for research and development of cell and gene therapies. This includes clean-room laboratories, storage and specialist training facilities. Under the terms of the agreement GOSH will work with Leucid at the state-of-the-art cleanroom facilities at the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children and provide quality assurance services required for manufacture of clinical product for the LEU011 first-in-man study, and potentially, other Leucid clinical programmes.

Each Party will retain ownership of background IP and Leucid (subject to contractual obligations) will own all Intellectual Property Rights arising from the Manufacturing Services performed.

Ian Miscampbell, Interim Executive Chairman of Leucid Bio, said: "We are extremely pleased to enter this first-of-its-kind agreement with GOSH to manufacture our lead asset, LEU011, for use in human studies. Additionally, we are pleased to have started a process with GOSH to examine the feasibility of applying our approach in the paediatric setting where there remains a great unmet need for new therapies. Working in close collaboration with leading institutes such as GOSH is fundamental to our ability to move quickly into clinical trials, using their state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities based here in London." 

Stephen Mathew, Head of Innovation at GOSH said: "Gene and cell therapies are the cutting-edge in clinical research, holding promise to offer personalised cancer treatment, including for rare forms that affect children and young people. At Great Ormond Street Hospital, we see children with the most rare and complex cancers. There have been incredible strides forward in the treatments that we can offer, however, sadly for many these still don't work. Gene and cell therapies offer hope for better, and potentially curative treatments which is why we're excited to support innovation in gene therapies through access to these highly specialist and unique facilities."

CAR T-cell therapy is revolutionary technology in which immune cells, called T-cells, are reprogrammed so they can recognise and destroy cancer cells. This has proven to be a powerful therapy for refractory blood cancers but to date has lacked efficacy for the treatment of solid cancers.

Leucid Bio has developed two proprietary platforms that build upon Dr Maher's novel 'lateral' CAR-T model which develops CAR-T molecules designed to adopt a more natural configuration within the T-cells. The technology gives properties to the CAR-Ts that enable them to consistently outperform previous generations of CAR-T therapies in pre-clinical studies; enhancing T-cell potency and generating a persistent long-term response with reduced toxicity.

LEU011 is based on a novel lateral CAR structure, in which complementary signalling domains are integrated in parallel across the cell membrane. This formation replicates the natural side-by-side position of these molecules across the cell membrane that is seen in endogenous immune receptors.  

Previous pre-clinical studies have shown that LEU011 consistently outperforms previous generations of CAR T-cells in those studies, enabling better control over T-cell activation, superior anti-tumour activity, and a favourable toxicity profile. 

About Leucid Bio

Leucid Bio is a pioneering biotech company developing cell therapies for refractory cancers, especially solid tumours. Leucid was founded to translate 20 years of King's College London (King's) research in the CAR-T field and is led by a highly experienced management team with both scientific and commercial expertise. As part of Leucid's ongoing relationship with King's, it benefits from exclusive access to and resources from the deep scientific, clinical and manufacturing expertise of John Maher and his academic team of immuno-oncology experts.

Leucid is headquartered in London, UK, with operations based at Guy's Hospital with its own R&D and process development laboratories, enabling it to maintain its patient-centric focus on developing better cell therapies for the benefit of individuals with hard-to-treat solid tumours. 

About Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust 

Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world's leading children's hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated, children's healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK. The hospital's pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children from across the UK with the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions. Our patients and families are central to everything we do – from the moment they come through the door and for as long as they need us.