Horizon Discovery Partners with US Immuno-Oncology Company

On Feb. 12, 2018, Horizon Discovery Group, a provider of gene editing and gene modulation technologies, announced that it has entered into a non-exclusive, out-licensing agreement with an unclosed US-based immuno-oncology therapeutics developer for Horizon’s patented technologies to support the development and manufacture of a new biomanufacturing cell line for commercial use.

Under the terms of the agreement, Horizon licensed a new cell-line engineering technology to the partner as well as non-exclusive rights to Horizon’s proprietary Helitron transposon gene-editing technology for an undisclosed financial consideration.

The cell-line engineering technology will be used to modify a current Horizon biomanufacturing cell line to generate an intermediate, which, according to the company, can be further modified using the Helitron transposon gene-editing technology to introduce specific changes, including the integration of antibody sequences. The intermediate cell line will enable rapid development of a range of cell lines designed to produce specific antibodies. This is expected to result in more cost effective and efficient antibody manufacture in the future for all the partner company’s development programs, according to Horizon.

Additionally, Horizon retains commercial rights to the improved cell line and Helitron transposon technology and will seek additional third-party license agreements for these technologies and others under development to drive workflows.

“Innovation and leverage of our capabilities, of which both intermediate cell-line engineering and transposon technologies are key examples, are important parts of our strategy as we continue to develop novel ways to address the key challenges facing our customers,” said Dr. Darrin M. Disley, CEO at Horizon Discovery, in a company press release. “This agreement demonstrates the impact of this approach and the value of licenses to our novel technologies, and we anticipate this becoming a significant additional revenue stream for the Group going forward.”

Source: Horizon Discovery Group