Medicenna Therapeutics Chooses CMO Kalon To Manufacture New Drug
Texas A&M-based Kalon Biotherapeutics has announced that it has been chosen by Medicenna Therapeutics as the contract manufacturer for the development, testing, and commercialization of several new drugs in the Medicenna pipeline.
Andrew Strong, who operates as the president and CEO of Kalon, commented on the agreement between the companies. “Kalon's contract with Medicenna represents an exciting opportunity to use our microbial-based cGMP manufacturing expertise on several promising biotherapeutics,” said Strong. “We look forward to a long and productive relationship with Medicenna, with the potential to bring many life-saving drugs to market. The Kalon-Medicenna contract presents a tremendous opportunity to advance research in the area of glioblastoma, while establishing Texas and, more specifically, Kalon as the 'go-to' provider of biologics development and manufacturing services.”
Fahar Merchant, the president and CEO of Medicenna Therapeutics, echoed the sentiments of Andrew Strong. He noted that Kalon’s manufacturing capabilities will allow the company to bring several drug products through the pipeline quickly, moving the products more speedily toward the goal of commercialization. With Kalon focusing on product manufacturing, Merchant said that his company would be able to focus more on core competencies.
The first drug that Kalon will be working on for Medicenna is Medicenna’s Empowered Cytokines, or ECs, which are used in a clinical trial to treat children and adults with brain cancer. Medicenna’s lead EC is a drug candidate called MDNA55. It has already been granted orphan drug status by the FDA as well as the EMA. The drug also has a fast track designation in the US. MDNA55 works by arresting protein synthesis in the target cancer cell, which then causes cell death. The drug targets the IL-4R, which is overexpressed in many cancers of the nervous system, including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, glioblastoma multiforme, and medulloblastoma, among other gliomas. The normal human brain does not have much, if any, IL-4R.