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Xenetic Biosciences Extends Drug Development Pact With Scripps Research Institute

NEW YORK – Xenetic Biosciences on Thursday said it extended a research funding and option agreement with Scripps Research Institute to advance development of recombinant DNase I and CAR T-cell combination therapies for cancer.

Under the terms of the original agreement signed in 2023, researchers at Scripps will lend their expertise to advancing Xenetic's drug pipeline, and the Framingham, Massachusetts-based biotech has the option to acquire an exclusive license to any new intellectual property arising from the DNase research program. The partners didn't disclose the financial terms of the deal or the extension.

Xenetic is conducting investigational new drug-enabling studies of its systemic recombinant DNase I candidate XBIO-015 in pancreatic carcinoma and solid tumors. It is also evaluating XBIO-015 in combination with anti-CD19 and anti-EGFR CAR T cells in preclinical models of CD19-expressing hematological cancers and EGFR-expressing metastatic melanoma.

DNase drugs developed on Xenetic's platform target neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are produced by activated neutrophils and released into the tumor microenvironment, promoting cancer spread and immunosuppression. In preclinical animal studies, these drugs improved the efficacy of immunotherapy, adoptive cell therapy, and chemotherapy. Previous studies at Scripps demonstrated that combination treatment with DNase I and CAR T cells reduced tumor burden, decreased the number of metastatic foci, and prolonged survival compared to CAR T-cell therapy alone.

Xenetic CEO James Parslow said in a statement that the company will expand and broaden the utility of its platform through its collaboration with Scripps researchers.

Xenetic also signed a research funding and material transfer agreement with the University of Virginia in January. Similarly, in that partnership, Xenetic will work with researchers at the university to advance its drug pipeline, and Xenetic has the option to acquire a license to new intellectual property arising from the research.