ElevateBio Launches HighPassBio To Advance Novel Targeted T Cell Immunotherapies With Technology From Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

ElevateBio, a Cambridge-based biotechnology holding company, today announced it has established and launched HighPassBio, a company dedicated to advancing novel targeted T cell immunotherapies. The company’s lead product is an engineered T cell receptor (TCR) T cell therapy for HA-1 expressing tumors, which is designed to treat and potentially prevent relapse of leukemia following hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). The product and approach were developed by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

“At ElevateBio we are committed to building therapeutics companies with the world’s leading innovators in cell and gene therapy to advance novel treatments that have strong potential to dramatically improve patient lives,” said David Hallal, Chairman and CEO of ElevateBio. “We look forward to leveraging our centralized industry-leading cell and gene therapy process development and manufacturing capabilities while working closely with Dr. Marie Bleakley and her team, to accelerate their impressive work through clinical development with the goal of serving patients who have no other treatment options. Additionally, we will explore this approach as a potential treatment for other diseases that are treated by stem cell transplants.”

HighPassBio’s scientific founder is Marie Bleakley, M.D., Ph.D., M.ClinEpi, pediatric oncologist and stem cell transplant physician at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and chair of the scientific advisory board (SAB) of HighPassBio. As the chair of HighPassBio’s SAB, Dr. Bleakley will continue working with ElevateBio to advance and accelerate this innovative program through clinical development toward patients.

A Phase 1 clinical trial has treated initial patients and is recruiting adult and pediatric patients who have relapsed with leukemia or related conditions following blood and marrow transplantation (also known as stem cell transplantation). – Business Wire