Acepodia Inks Pact with Pfizer to advance Cell Therapies

Acepodia, a biotech company in the clinical phase, is creating original cell therapies using its distinctive antibody-cell conjugation (ACC) and allogeneic gamma delta 2 (?d2) T cell technologies. It recently revealed a strategic clinical partnership with Pfizer Ignite to advance its autoimmune disease treatments. Pfizer Ignite supports biotechs in speeding up their innovations through the development lifecycle by utilizing Pfizer's vast resources, scale, expertise, and proven history of breakthroughs.

In this fresh deal, Pfizer Ignite will offer strategic advice and support to Acepodia as they work on developing their cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune conditions.

Acepodia's ACC platform, based on Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi's work and utilizing bioorthogonal chemistry, produces a non-genetically engineered version of CAR-T cell therapy that is scalable and reduces side effects like cytokine release storms and neurotoxicity. Acepodia's primary clinical candidate, ACE1831, is currently undergoing assessment in a phase 1 clinical trial for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients, showing strong and lasting impact following one treatment at the lowest dose.

"The significant unmet needs that exist in autoimmune diseases combined with the early positive results that have been seen with CAR-T therapies have opened the door for potential innovations that could provide the efficacy of CAR-T therapy without the challenges that have made routine use of CAR-T in autoimmune diseases difficult," said Sonny Hsiao, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Acepodia. "We see a significant opportunity to bring the benefits of our ACC platform to autoimmune diseases, and working with Pfizer Ignite will position us well to deliver our immunotherapies to patients in desperate need of new options."