Collaboration will accelerate Quell’s pipeline expansion into neuroinflammatory diseases

London and Sheffield, UK – October 26, 2020 – Quell Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing engineered T regulatory (Treg) cell therapies, today announced that the company has entered into a collaborative research agreement with the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), an international centre of excellence within the University of Sheffield recognised for its ground-breaking work in the fight against neurodegenerative disorders. Under the terms of the agreement, Quell Therapeutics will collaborate in a joint research programme with SITraN to accelerate the validation of Quell’s engineered Treg cell therapy platform for use in the treatment of neuroinflammatory diseases.

Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, Director of SITraN and the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre said: “We are very excited to partner with Quell Therapeutics to explore developing new approaches for addressing the inflammatory component of neurodegenerative disorders. There is increasing evidence of the role of neuroinflammation as a key driver in these diseases, as well as Tregs being a key mediator of immune homeostasis in the CNS tissue. Quell have assembled an impressive multi-disciplinary team with expertise from Treg biology through cell therapy development and manufacturing, and we look forward to working with them to translate their platform into therapies for neurodegenerative disorders.”

The research collaboration will enable Quell to access the disease expertise and translational capabilities of the SITraN team to validate multiple therapeutic candidates developed using Quell’s engineered Treg cell therapy platform, including accessing SITraN’s suite of in vitro and in vivo disease models. The collaboration will also pursue translational work to further understand the immunobiology of neurodegenerative diseases by profiling patient biosamples, collected by SITraN in collaboration with the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).

“We have made great progress at Quell over the past 18 months building out our engineered Treg cell therapy platform and progressing our lead asset QEL-001 for liver transplantation towards the clinic,” said Iain McGill, Chief Executive Officer of Quell Therapeutics. “Our partnership with Professor Dame Pamela Shaw and her team at SITraN will be key in accelerating our path to the clinic in the field of neuroinflammation, a new area of Quell’s pipeline. We are excited to progress this work with the goal of developing truly transformational engineered Treg cell therapies for patients living with devastating neurodegenerative disorders.”

Further information:                                                                      

Julia Wilson

JW Communications

+44 (0) 7818 430877

juliawilsonuk@gmail.com

About Quell Therapeutics

Quell Therapeutics is a privately held biotechnology company with a vision to become a leading engineered Tregs cell therapy company. The company is developing next generation engineered T regulatory (Treg) cell therapies for a range of diseases of immune dysfunction.

Quell Therapeutics was founded by Syncona in partnership with six leading experts in the Treg field, cell engineering, solid organ transplantation and autoimmune diseases: Giovanna Lombardi, Professor of Human Transplant Immunology at Kings College London (KCL), Alberto Sanchez-Fueyo, Professor of Hepatology in the Institute of Liver Studies at KCL, Hans Stauss, Professor of Tumour Immunology and Director of the Institute of Immunity and Transplantation at University College London (UCL), Emma Morris, Professor of Clinical Cell & Gene Therapy and Inflammation, Immunity and Immunotherapeutics Theme Director, National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, Marc Martinez-Llordella, Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Liver Studies at KCL and Elmar Jaeckel, Co-Leader Liver Transplant program MHH, Group Leader “Immune tolerance” in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology at Hannover Medical School.

About the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience

The Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) is an international centre of excellence recognised for its ground-breaking work in the fight against neurodegenerative disorders.

SITraN brings together 300 staff and research students in multi-disciplinary teams with state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment to study neurological illness. This centre is unique in its design to unite clinicians and multidisciplinary teams of scientists to translate discoveries in basic neuroscience into benefits for patients. The SITraN teams have developed a robust portfolio of in vitro and in vivo models to facilitate our understanding of disease mechanisms and identify new targets for therapeutic intervention which can be tested in our BRC experimental medicine programmes.

The work of SITraN is a major pillar of the University of Sheffield’s cross-faculty Neuroscience Institute, one for four flagship research institutes launched in 2019 to tackle the biggest global challenges through pioneering real world solutions and involving >120 principal investigators in the Faculties of Medicine, Science and Engineering.