TESSA THERAPEUTICS UNVEILS 2023 STRATEGIC OUTLOOK, CORPORATE UPDATE

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 (Bernama) -- Singapore-based Tessa Therapeutics Ltd (Tessa), a clinical-stage cell therapy company developing next-generation cancer treatments for hematological malignancies and solid tumours, will prioritise the development of its allogeneic “off-the-shelf” CD30.CAR-modified Epstein-Barr virus-specific T-cell (EBVST) therapy platform this year.

At the same time, the company will seek strategic options for the development of its TT11 autologous CAR-T platform with other companies, based on its strategic outlook and corporate update for 2023.

“The decision to prioritise the allogeneic or “off-the-shelf-approach” over the autologous platform followed the progress and new data with the TT11X clinical programme.

“The data demonstrated TT11X to be well-tolerated at all dosing levels, eliciting a 79 per cent overall response rate and 43 per cent complete response rate among 14 heavily pre-treated CD30-positive Hodgkin lymphoma patients,” it said in a statement today.

The company added that these developments are the first of what is expected to be a milestone-rich year ahead as the company seeks to build the value of its pipeline to its fullest potential with available resources.

Its president and chief executive officer (CEO), Thomas Willemsen said he believed that this strategic refocus on the allogeneic platform positions the company at the forefront of CAR-T innovation for 2023 and beyond.

“This optimism is based on the compelling safety and efficacy data that continue to be generated by our TT11X programme and the potential patient benefit in treating CD30-positive lymphomas, and potentially solid tumours where there is a significant unmet medical need,” he said.

In 2022, Tessa enhanced its executive management team with the appointment of Willemsen as CEO and Wilson W. Cheung as chief financial officer.

The company also expanded its board with the addition of Amy Schulman and Darren Carroll from Polaris Partners, which led the company’s US$126 million Series A financing round.

-- BERNAMA