PDC*Line Pharma SA raised €13.9 million (US$15.4 million) in a series B round plus another €6.1 million in loans and grants from the Walloon region of Belgium to take its allogeneic cell-based cancer immunotherapy, PDC*lung-01, into a phase I/II trial in patients with metastatic lung cancer.

Adaptimmune plc continued its bright start to the year by entering an alliance worth up to $897.5 million with Astellas Pharma Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize stem cell-based allogeneic CAR T and T-cell receptor (TCR) cell therapies.

PERTH, Australia – Australian cell therapy developer Mesoblast Ltd. has partnered with Germany's Grünenthal Group to develop and commercialize Mesoblast's allogeneic cell therapy candidate, MPC-06-ID, in a deal that carves out Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

DUBLIN – Genenta Science Srl raised €13.2 million (US$14.6 million) in new funding to progress its genetically engineered autologous hematopoietic progenitor cell therapy designed to reprogram the immunological milieu within the tumor microenvironment.

PERTH, Australia – Stem cell therapy has failed to deliver on its promises, according to Exopharm Ltd. founder and CEO Ian Dixon, who said he believes that exosomes, or the extracellular vesicles released by stem cells, could be a disrupter in the regenerative medicine space.

Nkarta Therapeutics Inc.'s CEO, Paul Hastings, said while the clever spelling of the company's name puts its natural killer cell platform at the fore, he is also prompted more often than not to have to spell it out, just to make sure there's no mistake. Still, he added, the occasional hotel bill is sent to Encarta instead of Nkarta.

SEOUL – South Korea's investors have become very interested in the global cell and gene therapy market. Licensing and M&A deals in the field have been active – a good sign for Korean biopharma firms eager to tap in.

DUBLIN – Every technology shift has its winners and losers. Ireland, long a key location for small-molecule and biologics manufacturing, is now gearing up to ensure it is on the right side of the divide as the rollout of cell and gene therapies (CAGT) gathers momentum. There are no guarantees that the same technological and economic factors that contributed to its success during earlier eras of pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing will apply to the coming era of regenerative medicine. But the country's inward investment agency, IDA Ireland, is betting that its long-established relationships with the top tier of biopharma companies and its longstanding expertise in meeting FDA manufacturing requirements will help in the battle to win new investment projects.