Themis Bioscience Announces Exclusive Licensing Agreement with Max Planck Innovation to Develop and Commercialize Oncolytic Virotherapies
This is a transformative step for the company and will broaden our immunomodulation platform into oncology. It also greatly complements our existing patent portfolio around the measles vector technology for infectious diseases. We believe the long standing expertise of Prof. Ulrich Lauer’s virotherapy research group at the University Tübingen in advanced oncolytic approaches together with our measles virus product development capabilities provide a strong foundation to rapidly develop differentiated immuno-oncology therapeutics.”
Erich Tauber
CEO and founder of Themis
The licensed technology is a modified measles virus based on the viral genome sequence of the established measles vaccine strain, which has been used to immunize billions of people worldwide. The measles virus itself has innate anti-cancer properties, for example, mediating tumor cell lysis, T cell activation and specific tumor cell targeting. Furthermore, it can also be engineered to include a tumor killing payload, making it a major building block for an effective oncolytic virus immunotherapy.
Themis established a robust cGMP manufacturing process for its measles vector technology and built a broad pipeline with both proprietary and partnered infectious disease vaccine candidates. The lead program in Chikungunya is anticipated to enter Phase 3 development in the near- to medium-term. Themis believes that today’s licensing deal with Max Planck Innovation GmbH will further expand its innovative technology platform to include novel oncolytic virus-based immunotherapy applications.
About Themis
Themis is developing immunomodulation therapies for infectious diseases and cancer. Through advanced understanding of immune system mechanisms, the company has built a sophisticated and versatile technology platform for the discovery, development and production of vaccines as well as other immune system activation approaches. Initially focused on preventing infectious diseases, the company has demonstrated the potential of its versatile platform through the rapid progression into Phase 2 clinical development for a vaccine against Chikungunya, a debilitating disease with global outbreak potential. Funded to date by leading Europe-based VCs, Themis has also gained prestigious non-dilutive funding for emerging infectious disease indications. The company will apply its platform and commercial manufacturing capabilities to diseases with high market potential both alone and for its partners.
For more information, visit www.themisbio.com.
About Max Planck Innovation
Max Planck Innovation is responsible for the technology transfer of the Max Planck Society and, as such, the link between industry and basic research. With our interdisciplinary team we advise and support scientists of the Max Planck Institutes in evaluating their inventions, filing patents and founding companies. We offer industry a unique access to the innovations of the Max Planck Institutes. Thus we perform an important task: the transfer of basic research results into products, which contribute to the economic and social progress.
For more information please visit www.max-planck-innovation.de.