GSK, Hitachi Chemical in T-Cell Manufacturing Pact

GSK and Hitachi Chemical Advanced Therapeutics Solutions (HCATS), a US subsidiary of Hitachi Chemical, announced that they have signed a three-year clinical manufacturing agreement on Oct. 1, 2018.

Under the agreement, HCATS will manufacture GSK’s specific peptide enhanced affinity receptor T-cell receptor (SPEAR) therapy for United States, Canadian and European trials. GSK’s SPEAR T-cell receptor therapy is an investigational cancer immunotherapy being developed by GSK and Adaptimmune, an Oxfordshire, UK-based T-cell therapy company, that targets NY-ESO-1. The targeted receptor is expressed across a variety of tumors including sarcomas, melanoma, multiple myeloma, bladder cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and gastro-intestinal cancers.

HCATS is focused on the contract manufacturing and development of cell-based cell and gene therapy products through its PCT Global Service Platform.