Tessa, A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology collaborateforming cell therapy laboratory

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 -- Tessa Therapeutics Ltd (Tessa), a clinical-stage cell therapy company has announced a collaboration agreement with the Agency for Science Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) in Singapore to form a research laboratory.

Jointly operated by Tessa and IMCB, the facility will harness new preclinical technologies and provide capabilities to accelerate the discovery and development of the next generation of cell therapies.

“We, at Tessa are excited to have this opportunity to work with A*STAR and IMCB in advancing our efforts to bring much-needed novel treatments to cancer patients globally,” said Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Tessa Therapeutics, Ivan D. Horak, M.D.

“This collaboration will allow Tessa to leverage IMCB’s considerable expertise in developing and harnessing new research tools, as well as A*STAR’s state-of-the art facilities, to enhance our preclinical pipeline development and discovery efforts, and by doing so, further strengthen our research and development pipeline.”

The collaboration is focused on IMCB’s research expertise, including new humanised patient-derived-xenograft (PDX) and patient-derived-organoid (PDO) models, according to a statement.

These models will be used to screen Tessa’s novel cell therapies and accelerate clinical development as well as enable the discovery of potential new therapeutic targets against cancer.

In addition, the laboratory will contribute other preclinical and clinical work, including product characterisation studies and compiling data required for Investigational New Drug (IND) applications with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory submissions.

The agreement marks Tessa’s second collaboration with IMCB, a research institute within A*STAR, Singapore’s lead government agency spearheading scientific discovery and innovation in the region.

-- BERNAMA