Anthony Nolan Cell & Gene Therapy Services and ONK Therapeutics Announce Collaboration

Anthony Nolan Cell & Gene Therapy Services and ONK Therapeutics Announce Collaboration

• Anthony Nolan Cell & Gene Therapy Services will provide umbilical cord blood and cord-derived NK cells to facilitate the development of ONK Therapeutics’ next-generation dual-targeted NK cell therapies
• Collaboration supports a common mission to improve the lives of patients with hematological malignancies and solid tumors

London, UK and Galway, Ireland, and San Diego, USA, 22 February 2021 … Cell therapy company ONK Therapeutics and blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan have entered into a collaboration to facilitate the development of the next-generation natural killer (NK) cell therapies to improve the lives of patients with hematological malignancies and solid tumors.

Anthony Nolan Cell & Gene Therapy Services will provide a consistent supply of umbilical cord blood and cord-derived NK cells as a choice of starting material for both ONK Therapeutics’ research activities and continued process development work. This source material is scalable and ethically-sourced from consenting donors.

The parties bring together their extensive experience in cell sourcing, cell processing, translational research, understanding of the tumor microenvironment, and exploration of NK cells as a foundation for cellular immunotherapy. In doing so they aim to expedite the development of much-needed new lifesaving cell therapies for patients with a broad range of cancers. 

Diana Hernandez, Head of Immunotherapy at the Anthony Nolan Research Institute says: “Our innovative partnership with ONK Therapeutics will serve to accelerate vital research and development into hematological and solid cancer treatments.  We see this as an exciting opportunity which will ultimately lead to better treatments, improving the lives of many more cancer patients.”

Chris Nowers, CEO of ONK Therapeutics says: “Anthony Nolan has a rich heritage in stem cell therapy research, including an enviable understanding of the biology of NK Cells and their processing. We look forward to continuing to partner with their team and to benefiting from their extensive know-how as we drive our programs towards clinical trials and beyond.”