Calimmune, Inc., acquired by global biotechnology leader CSL Limited in
2017 and now fully integrated within CSL, to be honored as the Arizona
Bioscience Company of the Year at the 2018 AZBio Awards.
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today announced that Calimmune, Inc., acquired by CSL Limited in 2017,
will be honored as the Arizona Bioscience Company of the Year by the
state’s bioscience and business community at the 2018 AZBio Award on
Oct. 3 at the Phoenix Convention Center.
On a mission to cure the incurable
When CSL Limited, the world’s 5th largest biotechnology
company, acquired Arizona-based Calimmune in August 2017, the global
biotechnology leader’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Perreault, said,
“Calimmune’s scientific accomplishments are impressive.”
Those accomplishments included accelerating the promise of gene therapy
to liberate patients from chronic and currently incurable diseases.
Calimmune, now fully integrated within CSL, had extensive expertise and
more than 200 patents in viral vector and novel delivery technology, and
therapeutic product design and manufacturing, which they developed into
a potent gene therapy platform with the potential of broad application
in a wide variety of indications.
The gene therapy process Calimmune was advancing works by genetically
modifying the patient’s own cells to shield and strengthen their immune
system or to correct blood cell abnormalities.
The promise of this approach is to create enduring and perhaps life-long
protection for individuals living with a broad range of debilitating and
currently incurable diseases, such as sickle cell disease.
Before CSL’s Acquisition
Calimmune was founded in 2006 by serial entrepreneur and University of
Arizona graduate, Louis Breton, Nobel Laureate David Baltimore, Ph.D.
(California Institute of Technology), Irvin Chen, Ph.D. (University of
California, Los Angeles) Inder M. Verma, Ph.D. (Salk Institute for
Biological Studies), and biotech veteran Jon Faiz Kayyem, Ph.D. The team
advanced lead development programs with novel ex-vivo gene therapies for
hematologic diseases and has some of the world’s most respected gene
therapy developers, clinicians, scientific advisors and
commercialization experts committed to its mission.
Today, for diseases that have no cure, medicines and other therapies
work to alleviate symptoms or slow the progression of the disease. The
journey to develop actual cures takes vision, ingenuity and persistence.
It also requires investment. Along Calimmune’s innovation journey, the
earliest investors included the Translational Accelerator Venture Fund
(TRAC) led by industry veterans Richard Love, Dan Von Hoff, MD, Eric
Tooker, JD, and John Bentley. Investments from individuals within the
Desert Angels, including Harry George, continuously supported the
company in its early years. As the company progressed, support for
ongoing investment rounds included RA Capital Management, a strategic
investment from AbbVie, and syndicate members that included Alexandria
Ventures, Cycad Ventures, and Numenor Ventures. The company also secured
debt financing from angels and Silicon Valley Bank. Calimmune’s research
journey was also supported by government grants, including significant
funding support from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
CSL Focusing on Curing the Incurable
With 22,000 employees driven by the company’s promise to develop and
deliver innovative products and programs to people living with rare
diseases in the hematology, immunology and specialty therapeutic areas –
CSL continues to advance candidates acquired from Calimmune.
"The team has built a robust technology platform and designed a
promising hematopoietic gene therapy candidate – CSL 200 – which
strongly aligns with our longer-term strategic goals, and complements
our core competencies and areas of therapeutic focus,” Perreault said.
“We believe that our combined strengths have tremendous potential to
change treatment paradigms, and most importantly, significantly improve
the lives of our patients."
CSL plans to begin clinical trials next year for CSL200 in sickle cell
disease, a disorder caused by a mutation in the hemoglobin gene that
causes abnormally shaped red blood cells that obstruct vessels, leading
to chronic pain and organ damage secondary to lack of oxygen. The
biotech leader’s treatment could potentially help patients by modifying
their own stem cells to incorporate a gene able to produce an improved
form of hemoglobin.
For its commitment to cure the incurable and its vison, ingenuity and
persistent pursuit of new treatments designed to improve the lives of
people around the world, Calimmune is the 2018 Arizona Bioscience
Company of the Year.
A key component of Arizona
Bioscience Week, The AZBio Awards & Life Science Fiesta brings
together Arizona’s life science and leadership community with visitors
from around the country to celebrate life-science innovation and
innovators. The AZBio
Awards takes place on the evening of October 3, 2018 at the Phoenix
Convention Center. Highlights of the evening will include honoring Dr.
Daniel D. Von Hoff with the AZBio Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement
and a celebration of the achievements of leading researchers, educators,
and innovator companies. The Life Science Fiesta following the award
ceremony features a Student Discovery Zone that showcases the work of
fifty students from Arizona high schools, community colleges, and
universities along with exhibits featuring Arizona companies and patient
advocacy organizations. The AZBio Awards & Life Science Fiesta are
presented by AZBio and the Arizona
Commerce Authority.
The White Hat Life Science Investor Conference (White
Hat 2018) brings together the next generation of biotech and
healthcare pioneers from across the Rocky Mountain Southwest Region with
investors locally, nationally, and internationally. Held at the Phoenix
Convention Center on October 4, 2018, White Hat 2018 is a collaboration
between the bioscience industry associations across the region. The
conference showcases investment opportunities for investment into
privately-held companies in the areas of diagnostics, therapeutics,
medical devices, and health information technology. Thirty-two companies
have been competitively selected by a committee of experienced life
science investors to present at White Hat 2018. Companies that presented
at White Hat in 2014 and 2016 have gone on to receive almost $200
million in investment from private investors and corporate investors.
For more information on Arizona Bioscience Week, visit www.AZBio.org/AZBW2018.
For more information on the 2018 AZBio Awards, visit www.AZBioAwards.com.
For more information about White Hat 2018, visit www.WhiteHatInvestors.com.
About AZBio
For 15 years, the Arizona Bioindustry Association (AZBio) has supported
life science innovation and life science innovators in Arizona. A key
component in Arizona’s life science ecosystem, AZBio is the only
statewide organization exclusively focused on Arizona’s bioscience
industry. AZBio membership includes patient advocacy organizations, life
science innovators, educators, healthcare partners and leading business
organizations. AZBio is the statewide affiliate of the Biotechnology
Innovation Organization (BIO) and works in partnership with AdvaMed,
MDMA, and PhRMA to advance innovation and to ensure that the value
delivered from life-changing and life-saving innovation benefits people
in Arizona and around the world.
For more information visit www.AZBio.org
and www.AZBio.TV
About CSL
(ASX:CSL; USOTC:CSLLY) is a leading global biotechnology company with a
dynamic portfolio of life-saving medicines, including those that treat
hemophilia and immune deficiencies, as well as vaccines to prevent
influenza. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise
to save lives using the latest technologies. Today, CSL – including our
two businesses, CSL Behring and Seqirus – provides life-saving products
to more than 60 countries and employs more than 22,000 people. Our
unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational
excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so
our patients can live life to the fullest. For inspiring stories about
the promise of biotechnology, visit Vita at CSLBehring.com/vita
and follow us on Twitter.com/CSL.
Contacts
AZBio Media Contact:
Joan Koerber-Walker, Arizona
Bioindustry Association
480-332-9636
Images
available upon request.
