March 14, 2023 (BOSTON and TORONTO) – Catamaran Bio Inc., a biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf NK cell therapies to treat cancer, and OmniaBio Inc., a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on cell and gene therapy, today announced their partnership to develop and manufacture Catamaran Bio’s allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors.
“This collaboration will allow us to develop scalable processes for the robust GMP manufacture of our off-the-shelf CAR-NK cell therapies,” says Alvin Shih, MD, Chief Executive Officer at Catamaran Bio. “Catamaran Bio is pleased to have identified a partner with leading-edge expertise and a track record of success navigating the complex manufacturing needs of cell therapy. We are excited to work with OmniaBio to enable the development and manufacturing of our CAR-NK cell therapy as it advances toward the clinic to address solid tumors.”
OmniaBio, along with its parent company CCRM, is developing Catamaran Bio’s CAR-NK cell therapy process at their Toronto site, where the process development lab is co-located with good manufacturing practices (GMP)-compliant clean room suites to offer a seamless transition between process development and clinical manufacturing. The OmniaBio-CCRM partnership enables highly adaptable and flexible end-to-end support for therapeutics developers, such as Catamaran Bio, that need to move rapidly from development to the clinic and beyond.
“We are pleased to leverage our extensive expertise in immunotherapy processes, analytical development, and GMP manufacturing to support Catamaran Bio,” explains Mitchel Sivilotti, CEO of OmniaBio Inc. “This work has the potential to fight solid tumors, an area where new treatment options are needed. We look forward to serving as an extension of the Catamaran Bio team to advance a promising CAR-NK therapy with the potential to address this unmet medical need.”
About Catamaran Bio
Catamaran Bio is developing novel, off-the-shelf chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-NK cell therapies designed to treat a broad range of cancers, including solid tumors. The company’s proprietary capabilities enable it to harness the natural cancer-fighting properties of NK cells and enhance and tailor their effectiveness with the power of synthetic biology and innovative non-viral cell engineering. Catamaran uses its TAILWIND® platform, an integrated suite of technologies, to specifically address the end-to-end methods of engineering, processing and manufacturing NK cells and rapidly advance its pipeline of CAR-NK cell therapy programs. The company’s team combines experienced biopharmaceutical leadership with founding scientists who are pioneers in NK cell biology, engineering, manufacturing and clinical application. Catamaran is backed by leading financial and corporate investors, including SV Health Investors, Sofinnova Partners, Lightstone Ventures, Takeda Ventures, Astellas Venture Management, and the UMN Discovery Capital investment program. For more information, please visit catamaranbio.com and follow Catamaran on LinkedIn and @CatamaranBio on Twitter.
About OmniaBio
OmniaBio Inc. is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on cell and gene therapies from pre-clinical through to commercialization, and a subsidiary of CCRM. Benefitting from CCRM’s existing expertise, OmniaBio provides a continuum of advanced process and analytical development, and manufacturing capabilities, by enabling focused support for clients from early clinical phase to commercial supply needs. OmniaBio is built upon leadership in iPSCs, immunotherapy and LVVs. Located at McMaster Innovation Park, approximately one hour from the U.S. border, OmniaBio’s new commercial manufacturing site will anchor a biomanufacturing centre of excellence. It will open with late clinical phase and commercial capacity in 2024, in a site totalling approximately 100,000 square feet. OmniaBio is supported by the Government of Ontario, via the Invest Ontario Fund. Visit us at www.omniabio.com.
About CCRM
CCRM is a global, public-private partnership headquartered in Canada. It receives funding from the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and leading academic and industry partners. CCRM supports the development of regenerative medicines and associated enabling technologies, with a specific focus on cell and gene therapy. A network of researchers, leading companies, investors and entrepreneurs, CCRM accelerates the translation of scientific discovery into new companies and marketable products for patients with specialized teams, dedicated funding and unique infrastructure. In 2022, CCRM established OmniaBio Inc., a commercial-stage CDMO for manufacturing cell and gene therapies. CCRM is the commercialization partner of the University of Toronto’s Medicine by Design. CCRM is hosted by the University of Toronto. Visit us at www.ccrm.ca.
Catamaran Bio, Inc.
Michael DeRidder
+1 (267) 496 6534
mderidder@catamaranbio.com
OmniaBio Inc.
Stacey Johnson
+1 (647) 309 1830
Stacey.Johnson@omniabio.com