This interview comes shortly after Novartis became the first company to get a gene therapy approved in the United States, the CAR-T cell therapy, Kymriah®. The historic event demonstrates to investors, the public and funding providers alike that cell therapy is a sector that has emerged, no longer one that is evolving in the future. There are close to 40 companies developing redirected T cells or NK cells for therapeutic use. There are also 800+ cell therapy clinical trials underway around the world, and a considerable amount of research and preclinical work taking place across the cell therapy sector.

In the light of the recent Gilead takeover of Kite Pharma for $11 billion, the cellular immunotherapy sector is in focus among both investors and oncology and non-oncology companies. The search for the “next Kite” has begun!

Glycostem is a 10-year old clinical stage cellular immunotherapy company based in The Netherlands. The uniqueness around Glycostem, beyond that it is a privately funded company with strong phase I safety clinical trial data, is that it may become the first company with an allogeneic off-the- shelf product (oNKord®). This would potentially position NK cell technology to leapfrog CAR-T cell products, due to a safer profile, lower production costs, off-the- shelf status and positive clinical trial data. [Read more…]