NKGen Biotech Announces Collaboration with the Parkinson’s Foundation to Bring Its Novel Natural Killer Cell Therapy to the Clinic for Advanced Parkinson’s Disease
SANTA ANA, Calif. (November 4, 2022) — NKGen Biotech, Inc., a biotechnology company harnessing the power of the body’s immune system through the development of natural killer (NK) cell therapies, today announced a collaboration with the Parkinson’s Foundation that will focus on ways to help accelerate NKGen’s clinical program using its novel autologous NK cell therapy (SNK01) for the treatment of advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) through its network of clinical partners and donors.
“Recent research has shown that NK cells can help remove alpha-synuclein proteins, reduce autoreactive T cell generated inflammation, and remove damaged neurons. We believe our non-genetically modified, enhanced, and expanded NK cells (SNK01) can provide an entirely new therapeutic approach to Parkinson’s disease which currently lacks effective disease modifying modalities,” said Paul Y. Song, MD, Vice Chairman of NKGen Biotech. “We are very impressed with the Parkinson’s Foundation’s holistic approach towards improving patient care and supporting cutting-edge research. We are confident that they will be a great partner for us as we bring our treatment for Parkinson’s disease to the clinic in 2023.”
“The Parkinson’s Foundation has a strong commitment to identify and accelerate promising scientific breakthroughs in the treatment of PD,” said John L. Lehr, President and CEO of the Parkinson’s Foundation. “We are looking to support novel, innovative approaches in PD, and we are attracted to NKGen’s unwavering commitment to bring their NK cell therapy to the clinic very quickly.”
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About the Parkinson’s Foundation
The Parkinson’s Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson’s disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. In everything we do, we build on the energy, experience and passion of our global Parkinson’s community. Since 1957, the Parkinson’s Foundation has invested more than $400 million in Parkinson’s research and clinical care. Connect with us on Parkinson.org, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or call (800) 4PD-INFO (473-4636).
About Parkinson’s Disease
Affecting an estimated one million Americans and 10 million worldwide, Parkinson’s disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s and is the 14th-leading cause of death in the U.S. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression), as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). There is no cure for Parkinson’s and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone.
About NKGen Biotech
NKGen Biotech, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative autologous, allogeneic, and CAR-NK Natural Killer (NK) cell therapeutics. Leveraging our proprietary cell expansion and activation technology and cutting-edge cell manufacturing expertise, we have the ability to infinitely expand natural killer cells while significantly enhancing cytotoxicity across our peripheral blood-derived products. NKGen Biotech’s lead product candidate, SNK01, is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of advanced refractory solid tumors both as a monotherapy and in combination with other agents, including checkpoint inhibitors and cell engagers. NKGen Biotech is committed to the vision of executing on our clinical strategies with the goal of commercializing our NK cell therapies to help save and sustain patients’ lives worldwide. The company and its commercially licensed cGMP facility are headquartered in Santa Ana, California, USA. For more information, please visit www.nkgenbiotech.com.