Oncternal Therapeutics and Karolinska Institutet Establish Collaboration for Research and Development of ROR1-targeting CAR-T and CAR-NK Cell Therapies

SAN DIEGO and STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Jan. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONCT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel oncology therapies, today announced that it established a research and development collaboration with world-renowned Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, to advance novel ROR1-targeting cell therapies focused on CAR-T cells and CAR-NK (Natural Killer) cells from the laboratory into the clinic.

As part of the collaboration, IND-supporting preclinical studies will be performed in the Cell and Gene Therapy Group led by Evren Alici, M.D. Ph.D., within the NextGenNK Center, which is a Competence Center for the development of next-generation NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies. The Center is coordinated by Karolinska Institutet and collaborates with the Karolinska University Hospital as well as prominent national and international industrial partners. The Center was launched in 2020, and is jointly funded by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova, Karolinska Institutet, and the industrial partners.

“Given that NK cells were discovered at Karolinska Institutet, we are excited to work together with industry partners to translate scientific advances into next-generation cell therapies that will benefit cancer patients,” said Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, M.D. Ph.D., Director of the NextGenNK competence center. “We look forward to collaborating with the outstanding team at Oncternal to develop cutting-edge T and NK cell therapies targeting ROR1, which is a promising target in many oncology indications. It could be ideally suited for cell therapy.”

“We are honored to work together with the world-leading academic team at Karolinska Institutet to accelerate the development of our ROR1-targeting CAR-T cell immunotherapy program,” said James Breitmeyer, M.D., Ph.D., Oncternal’s President and CEO. “ROR1 has emerged as an important and underexplored target for cancer therapy, and we believe that ROR1-targeting CAR-T and CAR-NK therapies hold significant promise for patients with both hematologic cancers and solid tumors. We believe that utilizing the ROR1 binding domain of our clinical-stage antibody cirmtuzumab as a component of the CAR has the potential to give us a safety and efficacy advantage.”