Mustang Bio Inc. (NASDAQ:MBIO) has announced a license agreement with SIRION Biotech GmbH under which Mustang acquired rights to the LentiBOOST™ technology from SIRION. The tech is developing Mustang’s lentiviral gene therapy, MB-207, for treating bubble boy disease (X-linked Severe combined immunodeficiency) patients.
Mustang to develop MB-2017 using LentiBOOST™ tech
MB-207 will treat XSCID patients that have previously received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and these with indicated re-treatment. LentiBOOST™ is a proprietary non-cytotoxic transduction booster for lentiviral vectors from SIRION. As per the terms of the agreement, SIRION is expected to receive an undisclosed upfront payment as well as development and milestone payments and royalties on product sales in the future.
Manuel Litchman, the CEO and President of Mustang, said that they are delighted to enter the agreement to utilize SIRION’s LentiBOOST™ tech in the development of MB-207. He said that in 2019, they added transduction enhancers to the lentiviral gene therapy’s cell processing, and so far, a lot of benefits have been realized. Litchman said that they look forward to incorporating LentiBOOST™ into their MB-207. The company is planning to file an Investigational New Drug application for MB-207 with the FDA to commence the vital Phase 2 clinical study for XSCID in patients aged more than two years who have previously received HSCT.
Mustang commences dosing of patients in Phase 1/2 MB-102 study
Mustang has also announced the dosing of the first patient in its multicentre open-label phase 1/2 clinical study evaluating efficacy and safety of its CD123-targeted CAR T cell therapy, MB-102. The study will evaluate Mb-102 in treating patients with refractory or relapsed blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (hrMDS), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Litchman said that this is a huge milestone for Mustang because it is the first clinical study under the company’s IND. A subject was dosed with cells that were processed at Mustang’s manufacturing facility. He added that they are looking forward to advancing MB-102’s development and offer updates on the trial as they seek to address the needs of AML, hrMDS, and BPDCN patients.
