ViroCell collaborates with AvenCell to support investigational cell therapy

ViroCell Biologics, a U.K.-based CDMO specializing in viral vectors for clinical-stage cell and gene therapies, has announced a manufacturing collaboration with AvenCell Therapeutics, a clinical-stage cell therapy company based in the U.S. The partnership centers on the production of a retroviral vector for AvenCell’s investigational allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy, AVC-203.

AVC-203 is a dual-targeted CD19/CD20 therapy designed to treat B cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. The therapy incorporates AvenCell’s RevCAR receptor system, which enables on/off control of CAR-T activity and the potential for additional antigen targeting. 

The company said the therapy is being developed as an off-the-shelf alternative to autologous CAR-Ts, with the goal of improving accessibility, reducing cost, and avoiding graft-versus-host complications.

ViroCell used a cell line provided by AvenCell to develop a GMP-grade retroviral vector within an accelerated timeline, the companies said. The vector will support clinical manufacturing of AVC-203, which is expected to enter a first-in-human Phase 1 trial for relapsed or refractory B cell lymphoma in the second half of 2025.

The collaboration highlights ViroCell’s capabilities in customized retroviral vector production for complex cell therapy platforms, according to the companies. AvenCell’s AV203 is its second investigational cell therapy using its differentiated allogeneic engineering to provide an “off-the-shelf” product engineered to overcome graft-versus-host disease, as well as graft rejection by host T and Natural Killer cells.