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Shinobi Therapeutics have announced a partnership with Panasonic Holdings Corp and Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA). Through this strategic collaboration, the organisations aim to engineer a novel manufacturing platform to produce iPS-T cell therapies more efficiently and at lower cost than is possible with currently available technology.
"To make promising iPS-T cell therapies accessible to the broader population, Panasonic is committed to developing a manufacturing platform that will produce safe cells for therapies at the lowest possible cost," said Yuki Kusumi, Representative Director and President of Panasonic Holdings Corporation. "Reducing the production time and cost of cell therapies must be done in a manner that does not compromise safety or efficacy, and we are thrilled to see the Japanese biotech and engineering communities coming together to make that happen."
Cell therapies have shown remarkable promise in treating blood cancers and other intractable diseases, but manufacturing costs render these therapies inaccessible to many patients around the world. Shinobi's iPS-T cell technology, built upon a decade's worth of iPSC research pioneered at CiRA by Shinobi co-founder Shin Kaneko using iPSCs originally created by Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka, will be used to support the creation of a closed-system manufacturing device created by Panasonic, opening up an entirely new paradigm for cell therapy production.
"Advancements in iPS cell production and Shinobi's genetic modification of iPSCs for immune evasion have made regenerative T cell therapy increasingly feasible," said Shin Kaneko, Co-Founder at Shinobi. "The automated cultivation device developed in this joint research will significantly accelerate this, contributing to the realisation of a world where state-of-the-art regenerative killer T cell therapy can be provided for every patient."
The newly announced partnership will leverage Panasonic's manufacturing expertise to develop a new method of producing iPS-T cell therapies in a closed-system process. The first phase of the partnership will be completed in April 2025, when the companies expect to release the initial prototype.
"While cell therapies have the potential to transform patient care across a wide range of intractable diseases, we have a long road ahead to overcome the challenges in manufacturability and accessibility," said Dan Kemp, CEO at Shinobi. "We are fortunate to be working with the most renowned partners across the academic and industry landscape as we endeavor to put cell therapies within reach for all patients who need them."