Peter Mac's Cell Therapies powers ASX cancer plays
It is home to Australia's only biomedical facility capable of manufacturing CAR T-cells and other cell therapies at commercial scale – operated by Cell Therapies
Several ASX companies have partnered with Cell Therapies as they work to develop their promising cancer therapeutics
Melbourne's Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre – aka Peter Mac – is Australia's only public hospital dedicated to cancer care, research and education.
Peter Mac has Australia's most extensive cancer research site in Australia, with more than 700 laboratory and clinical researchers, nurses, and support staff.
Since its humble beginnings in 1949, the centre has been at the forefront of innovation in cancer diagnostics and treatment.
It is a global leader in nuclear medicine and an early adopter of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for cancer diagnosis.
This year, the centre plans to evaluate GE HealthCare's next-generation total-body PET/CT scanner, designed to improve cancer detection, staging, and treatment planning.
In partnership with the University of Melbourne, Peter Mac recently established the Collaborative Centre for Genomic Cancer Medicine.
The Wilson Centre for Blood Cancer Genomics and Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics are also located at Peter Mac.
The cancer centre actively partners in clinical trials with pharmaceutical companies of all sizes – from global giants to smaller players – giving patients access to cutting-edge treatments.
And crucially Australia's largest TGA licensed cell and gene therapy contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO), Cell Therapies Pty Ltd, is co-located within Peter Mac.
Cell Therapies' sovereign advanced manufacturing facility and highly-skilled workforce support clinical trial and commercial supply of innovative cell-based therapies such as Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies, for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
It was the commercial manufacturing partner for Novartis' Kymriah – the first CAR T-cell therapy approved by the US FDA back in 2017.
"Our state-of-the-art clean rooms and production and testing facilities in Melbourne rank among the best in the world and paired with a highly specialised workforce, play a crucial role in enabling our Australian partners to advance the development of cutting-edge cell and gene therapies," Cell Therapies CEO Dr Bev Menner told Stockhead.
Cell Therapies is integral to the success of several Australian companies focusing on CAR T-cell therapies and other cell-based therapies, which are showing promise in the treatment of cancers and other life-threatening conditions.
AdAlta advances Cell Therapies with help from pioneer
AdAlta (ASX:1AD) and venture capital firm SYNthesis BioVentures Fund (SYNBV) launched AdCella in 2024, with an East to West strategy to bring cellular immunotherapies from Asia, particularly China, into Western markets.
AdAlta managing director Dr Tim Oldham was also CEO of Cell Therapies from 2013 to 2017 and said Peter Mac's capabilities were critical to the success of AdCella's East to West strategy.
"Peter Mac's long history and capability in the delivery of CAR T-cell therapy is pivotal to our ability to attract innovation from Asia and further develop those technologies in Australia," Oldham told Stockhead.
"Without those capabilities Peter Mac has developed we wouldn't be able to execute our East to West cell therapy strategy."
Oldham said many globally leading cancer hospitals realised that to be at the forefront of new technologies such as CAR T-cell therapies they needed to be able to manufacture them onsite.
"In Peter Mac's case they make their world-class cell therapies manufacturing capabilities available to not just their own researchers but other companies on a contract basis," he said.
Cell Therapies manufactures Arovella's lead asset for clinical trial
Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA) also uses Cell Therapies as its CDMO to manufacture its lead therapeutic candidate ALA-101 as it prepares for a phase I clinical trial program.
Arovella's proprietary allogeneic (one to many) platform uses healthy donor-derived invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells, engineered with chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to target specific cancer antigens.
ALA-101 combines iNKT cells with a CAR that targets CD19, a protein commonly found on B-cell blood cancers like lymphoma and leukaemia.
Arovella has licensed the manufacturing process, which is patent protected, from Imperial College London.
"Arovella's worked with Cell Therapies for quite some time and over that journey we've developed an excellent working relationship and are highly impressed with the breadth and manufacturing work they can undertake," CEO Dr Michael Baker told Stockhead.
Arovella is currently completing manufacturing of clinical batches of ALA-101 with Cell Therapies in preparation for first-in-human studies and aims to file an investigational new drug (IND) application with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This will enable the company to start is phase I trial for ALA-101 in CD19-positive blood cancer patients in CY25. Arovella also plans to present proof-of-concept data for its CLDN18.2-CAR-iNKT cell gastric cancer program in coming months.
"Arovella is excited to take ALA-101 into clinical trials and the partnership between Arovella and Cell Therapies has been critical to make that happen," Baker said.
"As we embark on our strategy to expand our pipeline with new programs targeting solid tumours, we look forward to strengthening our partnership with Cell Therapies."
Chimeric looks to manufacture and bring trials to Peter Mac
Clinical stage cell therapy company Chimeric Therapeutics (ASX:CHM) is also partnering with Cell Therapies to explore the potential to manufacture its CAR-T assets in Australia.
Chimeric CEO Dr Rebecca McQualter told Stockhead that while the company is listed on the ASX, its operations have been US-based.
"That is great for active trials running in the US but because we're an ASX company and focused on local shareholders we're focused on bringing our technology home," she said.
Chimeric has three CAR T & NK cell assets all in clinical trials, two of which it would like to bring to Australia, funding permitted.
It has an ongoing phase 1/2 clinical trial for its novel CHM CDH17 CAR T-cell therapy targeting advanced colorectal cancer.
"Unfortunately, the rate at which people are being diagnosed with bowel cancer from 20 to 30 years old is significantly increasing so we'd like to bring a site to Australia so we're working to be able to do that with Cell Therapies," McQualter said.
Their second program CLTX CAR T is in a phase 1B clinical trial in recurrent/progressive glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
"Peter Mac has an amazing brain tumour CAR T program so because we have a site running in Austin, Texas they also want to open a site and that means manufacturing with Cell Therapies," McQualter said.
"We can do everything end-to-end at Peter Mac and don't have to go anywhere else but we're still in the phase of funding our amazing ideas."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Australia provides 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to bolster fight against Russia's invasion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australia is providing 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks – valued at $245m – to Ukraine to help bolster its war against Russia's illegal invasion. The first tranche of the retired tanks are now in the possession of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after they were shipped from the Port of Geelong. Australia first purchased the fleet of 59 Abrams tanks – which were never deployed into a combat zone – in 2007. The Australian Army has since replaced the fleet with newer M1A2 tanks. An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams main battle tank is lifted onto a ship in Australia, bound for Ukraine. Picture: Supplied Last year, Ukraine expressed interest in taking the M1A1 fleet after Australia refused to donate its retired fleet of Taipan helicopters – which have since been dismantled and buried – due to concerns they would be too complicated to maintain and operate. The current $245m support package involving the M1A1 Abrams fleet is part of the $1.5bn in assistance Australia has provided to the war-torn nation since the start of Russia's conflict in 2022. 'The M1A1 Abrams tanks will make a significant contribution to Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russia's illegal and immoral invasion,' Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, who met the army personnel who helped deliver the tanks, said. 'Australia remains steadfast in our support for Ukraine and seeing a just and lasting peace.' The first tranche of M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks gifted to Ukraine are prepared for servicing at a port in Europe. Picture: Supplied Part of a support package worth $245m, the tanks have been retired by the Australian Army but were gifted to Ukraine as part of its fight against Russia. Picture: Supplied Ukraine has now taken possession of the majority of these tanks, with delivery of the final tranche to occur in the coming months. Australia is also due to deploy a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail to Europe to help protect a vital international gateway for assistance to Ukraine. Since 2003, the Australian Defence Force has helped train hundreds of Ukrainian troops as part of the UK-led and based multinational training mission Operation Kudu, which continues today. Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko thanks Australian Army soldiers for their efforts in loading M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks onto a ship. Picture: Supplied 'Australia stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine,' Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said. 'These modified M1A1 Abrams tanks will deliver more firepower and more mobility to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 'They meet a direct request from the Ukrainian government and form part of Australia's unwavering commitment to protect the global rules-based order.' The major update follows Russia handing over the bodies of 1000 slain soldiers to Ukraine, as further peace talks between both countries appeared to break down. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Picture: AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: AFP Ukraine also agreed to return the bodies of 19 soldiers to Russia as part of the agreement. Earlier in the week, a 'very unhappy' US President Donald Trump set a 50-day deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine, or risk tariffs that could cripple the eastern superpower. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far rejected calls for a ceasefire. 'The US president's statements are very serious. Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the week. Originally published as First tranche of Aussie M1A1 Abrams tanks delivered to Ukraine to bolster fight against Russia
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Australia's Abrams tanks reach Ukraine after nine months
The first of Australia's retired M1A1 Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine, nine months after they were gifted to aid the country's war effort. Defence Minister Richard Marles said the tanks, first promised last October, would "make a significant contribution" to Ukraine's "ongoing fight against Russia's illegal and immoral invasion". More than half of the 49 promised tanks have now reached the Ukrainian army, according to a statement from Mr Marles, with the remainder expected "in the coming months". The lengthy delay was blown out by the need to gain Washington's approval to send the US-made tanks to a third country, and what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described earlier this year as "logistics challenges". In May, when the ships were first being loaded, a US official told the ABC of American frustration about the "complicated" undertaking to send tanks that the Ukrainians would find "difficult to sustain" once in their possession. An Australian official told the ABC in April there was "doubt if the Ukrainians actually want these vehicles", which had never seen combat and were being replaced, and which could be vulnerable to drones given their weak roofs. But the tanks were requested by Ukraine, and the gift has been welcomed publicly by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko. "These modified M1A1 Abrams tanks will deliver more firepower and more mobility to the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said. "They meet a direct request from the Ukrainian government and form part of Australia's unwavering commitment to protect the global rules-based order." The 49 tanks come from a fleet of 59 originally purchased in 2007. They are being replaced by the M1A2 model. They are valued at $245 million, part of a total of $1.5 billion in Australian assistance to Ukraine.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
First tranche of Aussie M1A1 Abrams tanks delivered to Ukraine to bolster fight against Russia
Australia is providing 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks – valued at $245m – to Ukraine to help bolster its war against Russia's illegal invasion. The first tranche of the retired tanks are now in the possession of the Armed Forces of Ukraine after they were shipped from the Port of Geelong. Australia first purchased the fleet of 59 Abrams tanks – which were never deployed into a combat zone – in 2007. The Australian Army has since replaced the fleet with newer M1A2 tanks. Last year, Ukraine expressed interest in taking the M1A1 fleet after Australia refused to donate its retired fleet of Taipan helicopters – which have since been dismantled and buried – due to concerns they would be too complicated to maintain and operate. The current $245m support package involving the M1A1 Abrams fleet is part of the $1.5bn in assistance Australia has provided to the war-torn nation since the start of Russia's conflict in 2022. 'The M1A1 Abrams tanks will make a significant contribution to Ukraine's ongoing fight against Russia's illegal and immoral invasion,' Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles, who met the army personnel who helped deliver the tanks, said. 'Australia remains steadfast in our support for Ukraine and seeing a just and lasting peace.' Ukraine has now taken possession of the majority of these tanks, with delivery of the final tranche to occur in the coming months. Australia is also due to deploy a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail to Europe to help protect a vital international gateway for assistance to Ukraine. Since 2003, the Australian Defence Force has helped train hundreds of Ukrainian troops as part of the UK-led and based multinational training mission Operation Kudu, which continues today. 'Australia stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine,' Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said. 'These modified M1A1 Abrams tanks will deliver more firepower and more mobility to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 'They meet a direct request from the Ukrainian government and form part of Australia's unwavering commitment to protect the global rules-based order.' The major update follows Russia handing over the bodies of 1000 slain soldiers to Ukraine, as further peace talks between both countries appeared to break down. Ukraine also agreed to return the bodies of 19 soldiers to Russia as part of the agreement. Earlier in the week, a 'very unhappy' US President Donald Trump set a 50-day deadline for Russia to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine, or risk tariffs that could cripple the eastern superpower. Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far rejected calls for a ceasefire. 'The US president's statements are very serious. Some of them are addressed personally to President Putin,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier in the week.
