Takara Bio enters into a license and supply agreement of RetroNectin with BioNTech Cell & Gene Therapies GmbH
24 Jun 2021Industry news
Takara Bio Inc. has announced that it has entered into a License and Supply Agreement with BioNTech Cell & Gene Therapies GmbH ("BioNTech"), a BioNTech SE company under which Takara Bio grants BioNTech a commercial license to use applicable patents relating to RetroNectin®. Under this agreement, Takara Bio provides BioNTech with reliable supplies of RetroNectin®.
The patented technologies licensed to BioNTech are based on Takara Bio’s proprietary RetroNectin® method, which includes a technology enabling highly efficient gene transduction to cells by retrovirus/lentivirus vector and expansion of T-cells with high efficiency. With such advantages, RetroNectin® method is one of the most used standard protocols utilized for "Engineered T-cell Therapy", which includes promising TCR and CAR gene therapies recently raising higher expectations.
Under the agreement signed with Takara Bio, BioNTech is allowed to use RetroNectin® for production of its cell & gene therapy products, therapies in which a patient’s T cells are genetically engineered to express a CAR for the treatment of multiple solid tumors.
Takara Bio is promoting supply of RetroNectin® to clinical development of Engineered T-cell Therapy actively pursued worldwide in recent years and expects higher sales growth in the future.
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RetroNectin® Reagent
Takara BioResearch and Clinical Grade RetroNectin Reagent for Retroviral or Lentiviral Transduction. RetroNectin Reagent for retroviral or lentiviral transduction significantly increases transduction efficiency and results in enhanced gene transfer, especially in suspension and hematopoietic stem cells. RetroNectin Reagent is a chimeric peptide composed of E. coli-derived recombinant human fibronectin fragment that contains three functional domains: a central cell-binding domain (type III repeat, 8-10), a heparin-binding domain II (type III repeat, 12-14), and a CS1 site within the alternatively-spliced IIICS region. RetroNectin is a 574 amino acid protein with a molecular weight of 63 kDa. Fibronectins (FNS) are multi-functional cell adhesive glycoproteins present in the extracellular cell matrix and plasma and also play critical roles in wound healing and embryogenesis.When coated on surfaces of cell culture dishes, flasks or bags, RetroNectin significantly increases retroviral or lentiviral transduction into mammalian cells. This enhanced gene transfer is thought to occur via the co-localization of retroviral particles and target cells on the RetroNectin molecules. In essence, viral particles bind RetroNectin via interaction with its heparin-binding domain II, while target cells bind RetroNectin primarily through interaction of the cell surface integrin receptor VLA-4 with the fibronectin CS1 site. Additionally, target cells may also bind the RetroNectin recombinant human fibronectin fragment via the interaction of fibronectin tripeptide Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD), located within the molecule's central cell-binding domain, with corresponding cell surface integrin receptor VLA-5.Features: Enhanced gene transfer efficiency Higher retroviral or lentiviral transduction levels in suspended and adherent mammalian cells Improved success in hard-to-infect cell types and hematopoietic stem cells Nontoxic: does not require cytotoxic polybrene Superior transduction efficiency compared with fibronectin, polybrene or protamine Higher reagent efficiency enables use of smaller viral solution volumes Clinical grade RetroNectin is available Applications: General retroviral or lentiviral transduction experiments Cell migration assays Gene therapy studies: RetroNectin has already been used in over 40 clinical trials, mostly using hematopoietic stem cells Cell therapy studies related to stem cell research and related technology