Telethon accesses RetroNectin from Takara to support gene therapies

Takara Bio will supply its proprietary RetroNectin method to Fondazione Telethon for use in the production of gene therapies, including Strimvelis. 

The agreement allows the Italian non-profit firm, Telethon, to use RetroNectin for commercial purposes including manufacturing products for cell and gene therapies (CGTs). Financial details have not been divulged. 

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A recombinant human fibronectin fragment, RetroNectin is a reagent that promotes colocalization of lentivirus or retrovirus with target cells to effectively enhance transduction. The RetroNectin approach is one of the most widely used standard protocols in engineering genes, T-cell based receptor (TCR), and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) based therapies. Used in over 40 clinical trials, the method is a benchmark transduction enhancer for retroviral/lentiviral gene transfer to hematopoietic cells.  

Telethon will incorporate the reagent in the production of Strimvelis, an approved autologous cell therapy treatment for Adenosine deaminase deficiency, the rights of which Telethon added last month in a deal with Orchard Therapeutics. (Orchard, meanwhile, is set to be acquired by Japan-based pharmaceutical firm Kyowa Kirin.) 

The drug will be made available through San Raffaele Hospital in Milan from where it originated. Initially approved for reimbursement in 2016 by Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco (AIFA), the drug has been administered to a total of 45 patients across 20 countries. 

Neither Telethon nor Takara responded when contacted by this publication for further information.