VERAXA Biotech (NASDAQ: VRXA) announced the initiation of cell line development for its lead BiTAC(R) T-cell engager program through a collaboration with ATUM. The partnership will leverage ATUM's Leap-In Transposase(R) technology to generate stable clonal cell lines supporting IND/CTA-enabling activities and future clinical development. This milestone follows encouraging preclinical data presented at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting and is intended to support CMC development, including early process, analytical and formulation development, as well as the production of material for nonclinical studies.
VERAXA's BiTAC-TCE platform is designed to improve tumor selectivity by splitting the T-cell engager into two complementary precursors that activate only when both bind separate tumor targets on the same cell. The company believes this conditional "AND"-gated approach could reduce off-tumor toxicity associated with conventional T-cell engagers while maintaining anti-cancer activity, potentially enabling higher dosing and a broader therapeutic window. This approach addresses a critical limitation of traditional T-cell engagers, which can cause severe side effects due to activation on healthy cells expressing single targets.
The initiation of cell line development is a crucial step toward advancing the BiTAC program into clinical trials. VERAXA is building a premier engine for the discovery and development of next-generation antibody-based therapeutics, including bispecific T cell engagers, bispecific ADCs and other innovative formats. Powered by a suite of transformative technologies and guided by rigorous quality-by-design principles, the company is rapidly advancing its pipeline of ADCs and proprietary BiTAC formats into clinical development and beyond. VERAXA was founded on scientific breakthroughs made at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), a world-renowned institution known for pioneering life science research and cutting-edge technology.
For more information, visit the full press release at https://ibn.fm/FCIlk. The latest news and updates relating to VRXA are available in the company's newsroom at https://ibn.fm/VRXA.
