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Rexgenero, a regenerative medicine company developing advanced cell therapies to treat chronic limb-threatening ischaemia (CLI), today announces the acquisition of all the key assets of aratinga.bio SAS Group, a preclinical-stage immunotherapy biotech company based in Paris, France.

The acquisition, which follows the recent approval by the French Commercial Court, includes all patent applications and related intellectual property, the exclusive license agreement for polymeric nanoparticle technology and the bioproduction facilities of aratinga.bio SAS Group, as well as the entire aratinga.bio team.

All assets of aratinga.bio SAS Group will be transferred to a newly created French subsidiary of Rexgenero.

Dr David Horn Solomon, Chairman of Rexgenero Ltd, commented: “The acquisition of the aratinga.bio SAS Group’s assets and IP will enable the creation of an integrated cell and gene therapy platform that combines our innovative late-stage Phase III REX-001 program for chronic limb-threatening ischaemia with aratinga.bio SAS Group’s potentially transformative in vivo CAR-T platform. In addition, the operating synergies between the two businesses are considerable.”

Renaud Vaillant, Chief Executive Officer of aratinga.bio SAS Group, said: “This unique combination provides the solution we have been looking for, enabling us to continue the development of our breakthrough CAR-T technology to proof of concept in 2020 in preparation for a Phase I/II clinical trial.”

Cécile Bauche, Chief Scientific Officer of aratinga.bio SAS Group, added: “This acquisition will provide funding for experiments needed to demonstrate proof of concept of our CAR-T therapeutics in vivo.”

The transaction enables aratinga.bio to SAS Group continue the development of its technology, and for the Paris-based team (15 people in Villejuif, close to the Institut Gustave Roussy) to pursue this valuable program.

– ENDS –

For further information, please contact:

At Rexgenero

Joe Dupere, CEO
+44 (0)20 3700 7480
[email protected]

For media enquiries (Rexgenero) 

Instinctif Partners 
Tim Watson / Siobhan Sanford
+44 7837 674 500 / + 44 7534 247 411
[email protected]

About Rexgenero
Rexgenero is a privately held, UK-based regenerative medicine company pioneering the development of patient-specific cell-based therapies to treat serious diseases such as chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLI).

Rexgenero’s lead product, REX-001, consists of a suspension of immune and progenitor cells involved in immune modulation, blood vessel regeneration and remodelling and improvement in blood flow. It is manufactured using a patient’s own cells, avoiding undesired immune responses.
REX-001 is currently being tested in two pivotal, placebo-controlled, double-blind, adaptive Phase III SALAMANDER trials in patients with CLI and diabetes mellitus at multiple sites across Europe. Previous randomised REX-001 clinical trials have already demonstrated statistically significant proof of concept. In a Phase I/II and Phase II clinical trial, REX-001 showed very strong positive results in improvement of blood flow, healing of ulcers and alleviating chronic ischemic rest pain. All ulcers healed within 12 months in 82% of patients after treatment with REX-001 at the dose being currently tested in Phase III trials.

Rexgenero was incorporated in 2015 using therapies that were developed by the Andalusian Health Authority and Andalusian Initiative of Advanced Therapies, world experts in the development of advanced cell and gene therapies. This partnership and Rexgenero’s leading expertise in cell therapy clinical development, manufacturing and biology is a major platform for development of new therapies and continued leadership in advanced therapies.
Rexgenero has offices in London, UK and R&D and manufacturing operations in Seville, Spain and additional manufacturing capability in Frankfurt, Germany.

Connect with us: Twitter: @_Rexgenero
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rexgenero-limited/

About Phase III SALAMANDER clinical trials

Rexgenero is planning to treat a total of 60 diabetic patients with CLI and rest pain and 78 diabetic patients with CLI and non-healing ischemic ulcers in two independent Phase III SALAMANDER trials in approximately 30 hospitals across Europe. The trials are given the name SALAMANDER in reference to the amphibian’s ability to regenerate cells in its tail and limbs.

The clinical trials use a highly innovative and adaptive trial design with novel primary endpoints that increase the sensitivity of the study and increase the likelihood of REX-001 succeeding as a breakthrough treatment for CLI.

For more information about the REX-001 Phase III SALAMANDER trials, please visit the clinical trial website: https://www.cli-treatment.com/en/home

About aratinga.bio SAS Group

aratinga.bio SAS Group is a preclinical-stage immunotherapy biotech company founded in 2017 developing an off-the-shelf CAR-T therapy allowing the in vivo targeting and transduction of T-cells.

The lentivector – encoding for the Chimeric Antigen Receptor – is coated with a polymeric envelope. The anti-CD3 targeting moiety grafted at the surface of the polymer directs the synthetic vector towards the T-cells. Its in vivo technology does not require costly dedicated manufacturing sites to produce modified T-cells in contrast to approved ex vivo CAR T-cell therapies. The genetic modification to express the CAR is directly generated in the patient.

This inducible, switchable, in vivo CAR-T platform, represents a welcomed advantage over current recently approved ex vivo CAR-T therapies turning them into more effective, more universal, and safer treatments.

For more information, please visit https://www.aratinga.bio/