EXCLUSIVE: Cell Therapy Player Lineage Cell Therapeutics Starts Development Activities Under Licensing Pact With Eterna Therapeutics

Lineage Cell Therapeutics Inc LCTX has initiated certain development activities to generate a novel hypoimmune induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line under the company’s exclusive option and license agreement with Eterna Therapeutics Inc ERNA.

“We have generated what we believe to be unprecedented data in the setting of dry age-related macular degeneration, but we want to expand our technology to other areas,” Brian Culley, CEO of Lineage, exclusively told Benzinga.

“That’s where our deal with Eterna comes into play; it provides us an opportunity to gain experience with three new areas: gene editing, hypo immunity, and induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs,” he added.

The update marks the next step under the strategic collaboration announced in February 2023, under which Eterna is developing engineered hypoimmune iPSC lines that Lineage will evaluate for differentiation into cell transplant product candidates for central nervous system (CNS) diseases and other neurology indications.

Matt Angel, Eterna’s CEO and president, told Benzinga, “This collaboration underscores our dedication to advancing the development of therapeutics using our mRNA cell engineering technology.”

After assessing the competitive landscape, Lineage finalized its selection of specific gene edits for the initial cell lines to be developed by Eterna. 

Lineage expects that these edits would expand the edited cell lines’ overall utility, including for non-immune privileged or non-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched indications, and will further differentiate the cell line from others currently used by competitors. 

Under the Agreement, Eterna plans to conduct certain gene-editing activities and provide materials to Lineage for evaluation. 

Lineage will make payments to Eterna in connection with Eterna’s successful development and delivery to Lineage of certain materials. 

Eterna is the exclusive licensee of the key intellectual property underlying this collaboration from its discovery partner, Factor Bioscience. 

Price Action: LCTX shares closed at $1.38, and ERNA stock closed at $2.31 on Tuesday.