Cellectis, a leader of allogeneic CAR T-cell therapies, and Accelera, the preclinical contract research organisation within the Nerviano Medical Sciences Group, recently signed an agreement to complete the preclinical studies of Cellectis’ advanced product candidate, UCART19. Engineered allogeneic CD19 T-cells currently stand out as a real therapeutic innovation for treating B-cell leukaemias and lymphomas.

Under the terms of this agreement, Accelera, a leading European CRO, will perform in vivo preclinical studies to finalise the IND (Investigational New Drug) / IMPD (Investigational Medicinal Product Dossier) package for UCART19. The phase I human clinical trial for UCART19 is planned for 2015.

Dr Mathieu Simon, managing director, executive vice-president at Cellectis stated: “Thanks to the extremely positive in vivo proof of concept results for our flagship UCART19 product, we are delighted to take a step forward with Accelera in order to complete the regulatory documents necessary for filing the IMPD package.”

Enrico Pesenti, managing director, at Accelera said: “The collaboration with Cellectis confirms Accelera exclusive competence in designing and executing preclinical programmes with innovative biologicals and cell based therapies. The agreement is also a significant sign of confidence in the outstanding quality of the scientific and industrial research Nerviano Medical Sciences Group develops today.”