Mesoblast Acquires Mayo Clinic’s Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) Platform to Enhance its Stem Cell Therapies

Key Points

• Mesoblast has acquired exclusive global rights to a Mayo Clinic-developed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) platform for mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapies.
• The company plans to use CAR-engineered MSCs to improve tissue targeting and potency in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and lupus nephritis.
• Mayo Clinic will provide in-kind support under the license, including GMP manufacturing activities, and the rights were obtained through the acquisition of a startup formed to advance the technology.

What Mesoblast acquired

Mesoblast has acquired an exclusive worldwide license to a patented chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology platform designed to enhance its mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) products. The company said it plans to use engineered CARs to improve target specificity and strengthen the immunomodulatory and tissue regenerative properties of its cell therapies.

Mesoblast’s existing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) platforms are aimed at tissue-specific inflammatory diseases, leveraging their homing and immunomodulatory properties. The company said adding CAR constructs to MSCs is intended to improve targeting to inflamed tissue and increase potency.

How the Mayo Clinic platform works

According to a Mayo Clinic release, the platform combines mesenchymal stromal cells with chimeric antigen receptors, engineered molecular tools that recognize specific disease-related markers. The resulting CAR-MSC approach is intended to help these cells localize more precisely to sites of inflammation while supporting immunosuppression and tissue repair. The underlying preclinical work was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Mesoblast said the research identified CAR-MSC approaches with potential for enhanced tissue-specific targeting in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including inflamed bowel. The company said this creates an immediate opportunity to develop more potent products for ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. Mesoblast also plans to use CAR-MSC engineered to express CD19 on their surface in lupus nephritis and other B-cell autoimmune diseases, where durable immunomodulation is a goal.

Deal structure

Mesoblast obtained the exclusive worldwide rights to the Mayo Clinic-developed CAR-MSC intellectual property through the acquisition of a startup formed specifically to advance the technology. As part of the exclusive license, Mayo Clinic will provide in-kind support to further develop the platform and resulting products, including GMP manufacturing activities. The acquisition was completed through the issuance of ASX ordinary shares.

Silviu Itescu, Chief Executive of Mesoblast, said: “This innovative genetic modification technology fits well with our strategy to extend our market leadership by creating products with even greater efficacy and new target indications.”

Want to keep up on regenerative medicine? Get the weekly newsletter here.