XBIO HUGE NEWS OUT >>> On March 4, 2019, Xenetic Biosciences, Inc. (the “Company”) announced its agreement to acquire the novel CAR T (“Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell”) platform technology, called “XCART,” a proximity-based screening platform capable of identifying CAR constructs that can target patient-specific tumor neoantigens, with a demonstrated proof of mechanism in B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphomas. The XCART technology, developed by The Scripps Research Institute (“Institute”) in collaboration with the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (“IBCH”), is believed to have the potential to significantly enhance the safety and efficacy of cell therapy for B-cell lymphomas by generating patient- and tumor-specific CAR T cells.
The XCART technology platform was designed by its originators to utilize an established screening technique to identify peptide ligands that bind specifically to the unique B-cell receptor (“BCR”) on the surface of an individual patient’s malignant tumor cells. The peptide is then inserted into the antigen-binding domain of a CAR, and a subsequent transduction/transfection process is used to engineer the patient’s T cells into a CAR T format which redirects the patient’s T cells to attack the tumor. Essentially, the XCART screening platform is the inverse of a typical CAR T screening protocol wherein libraries of highly specific antibody domains are screened against a given target. In the case of XCART screening, the target is itself an antibody domain, and hence highly specific by its nature. The XCART technology creates the possibility of personalized treatment of lymphomas utilizing a CAR with an antigen-binding domain that should only recognize, and only be recognized by, the unique BCR of a particular patient’s B-cell lymphoma. An expected result for XCART is limited off-tumor toxicities, such as B-cell aplasia. Xenetic’s clinical development program will seek to confirm the early preclinical results, and to demonstrate a more attractive safety profile than existing therapies.
A description of the transaction documents and transactions contemplated thereby are set forth below. Subject to the satisfaction of the closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2019.
Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
Share Purchase Agreement
On March 1, 2019 (the “Signing Date”), the Company entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (the “Share Purchase Agreement”) with Hesperix SA, a Swiss corporation (“Hesperix”), the owners of Hesperix (each, a “Seller” and collectively, the “Sellers”), and Alexey Andreevich Vinogradov, as the representative of each Seller (the “Sellers’ Representative”), pursuant to which the Company will purchase from Sellers all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock (the “Shares”) of Hesperix (the “Transaction”).
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