ROCKVILLE, Md., March 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Innovative Cellular Therapeutics (ICT), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a comprehensive platform of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies for solid and liquid tumors, announced today that it has been nominated as a finalist for “Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year,” by Maryland Tech Council (MTC). The winner of the award will be revealed at MTC’s annual Industry Awards Celebration on May 13, 2020.
MTC is the largest technology trade group serving the advanced technology and biotechnology communities of Maryland. Its mission is to advocate for the interests of the technology community, further the role of technology in the Maryland economy, and nurture an environment where technology companies can collaborate, grow and succeed.
“We are honored to be nominated for the Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year award by Maryland Tech Council,” said Larry (Lei) Xiao, Ph.D., ICT’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “After establishing our U.S. business in 2018, we moved our global headquarters to Rockville in early 2019 to further concentrate our focus on the U.S. market and to leverage the strong life sciences talent pool in Maryland as we expand our operations and hiring in the area.”
Dr. Xiao noted that ICT has already made significant progress since moving to Maryland, including hiring most of ICT’s senior executives and obtaining FDA IND clearance for the Company’s ArmoredCAR® ICTCAR014 CAR-T program, which is now moving into a U.S. Phase 1 clinical trial in relapsed or refractory NHL, including for PD-L1 positive patients. ICT has also initiated pre-IND discussions with the FDA for its first CoupledCARTM based solid tumor CAR-T programs.
“We appreciate the support and recognition from Maryland Tech Council and the local life sciences community during this exciting time for our company,” Dr. Xiao added.
About Innovative Cellular Therapeutics
Innovative Cellular Therapeutics (ICT) is a Rockville, Maryland based clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of solid and liquid tumors. ICT is in pre-IND discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its first solid tumor CAR-T programs, based on the Company’s proprietary CoupledCARTM solid tumor platform technology. ICT has already achieved promising responses with CoupledCARTM in thyroid, colon, and prostate cancer patients in human proof-of-concept trials through its Shanghai based R&D platform. ICT is initiating its first U.S. clinical trial with its most advanced program, ICTCAR014, after having received U.S. FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) application clearance in late 2019. ICTCAR014 is based on ICT’s proprietary ArmoredCAR® liquid tumor platform technology and is a next generation CD19-targeting CAR-T therapy that expresses a dominant negative PD-1 (dnPD-1) protein to block immunosuppression by cancer cells. ICTCAR014 is being developed for patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), including PD-L1 positive patients. For more information, please visit www.ictbio.com.
Investor Relations Contacts:
Innovative Cellular Therapeutics
ir@ictbioinc.com
Irina Koffler
LifeSci Advisors
646-970-4681
ikoffler@lifesciadvisors.com
Media Relations Contacts:
Kate L. Barrette
RooneyPartners LLC
212-223-0561
kbarrette@rooneyco.com