Juno Therapeutics and Thermo Fisher Scientific Announce CAR T Manufacturing Partnership

WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Juno Therapeutics (NASDAQ: JUNO) and Thermo Fisher Scientific have entered into a partnership for Juno to use Thermo Fisher's Cell Therapy Systems (CTS) activation reagents in the manufacturing of its chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapies. 

Under the seven-year nonexclusive licensing and supply agreement, Juno has obtained rights to use CTS Dynabeads CD3/CD28 magnetic beads as part of the clinical and commercial manufacturing processes for its current and future CAR T therapies. CTS Dynabeads activate and expand T cells that have been genetically engineered to recognize and fight cancer cells in each individual patient. The proprietary platform already enables research, development, and commercialization of other CAR T cell therapies globally by providing a scalable platform that streamlines production while ensuring high reproducibility.

"Juno aims to manufacture best-in-class CAR T therapies to help as many patients as we can," said Ann L. Lee, Juno's Executive Vice President of Technical Operations. "Thermo Fisher's technology will help us do that and deliver on our promise to patients."

"As Juno progresses its pipeline from clinical research to commercializing drug product, it requires the highest-quality manufacturing capabilities that the industry can offer," said Mark Stevenson, Chief Operating Officer, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Cell Therapy Systems' products help minimize the risk of contamination and variability in clinical research and drug commercialization. These products are supported by rigorous regulatory review, making them a proven choice as more companies invest in moving from bench to bedside."

No other terms from this transaction were disclosed.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of more than $20 billion and approximately 65,000 employees globally. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics, deliver medicines to market and increase laboratory productivity. Through our premier brands – Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services – we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive services. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

About Juno

Juno Therapeutics is building a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. Founded on the vision that the use of human cells as therapeutic entities will drive one of the next important phases in medicine, Juno is developing cell-based cancer immunotherapies based on chimeric antigen receptor and high-affinity T cell receptor technologies to genetically engineer T cells to recognize and kill cancer. Juno is developing multiple cell-based product candidates to treat a variety of B-cell malignancies as well as multiple solid tumors and multiple myeloma. Several product candidates have shown compelling clinical responses in clinical trials in refractory leukemia and lymphoma conducted to date. Juno's long-term aim is to leverage its cell-based platform to develop new product candidates that address a broader range of cancers and human diseases. Juno brings together innovative technologies from some of the world's leading research institutions, including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Seattle Children's Research Institute (SCRI), the University of California, San Francisco, and The National Cancer Institute. Juno Therapeutics has an exclusive license to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital patented technology for CD19-directed product candidates that use 4-1BB, which was developed by Dario Campana, Chihaya Imai, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Juno's product candidate JCAR017 was developed in collaboration with SCRI and others.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are generally statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plans," "will," "outlook" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, assumptions and projections, and speak only as of the date they are made. Celgene and Juno undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in light of new information or future events, except as otherwise required by law. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the control of either company. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements as a result of the impact of a number of factors, many of which are discussed in more detail in the public reports of each company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Media Contact Information
Ron O'Brien
Thermo Fisher Scientific
781-622-1242
ron.obrien@thermofisher.com

View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/juno-therapeutics-and-thermo-fisher-scientific-announce-car-t-manufacturing-partnership-300573836.html

SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific