Singapore: China based CARsgen Therapeutics, a private and venture backed company focused on the development of CAR-T-based autologous immunotherapy to treat solid tumors, has partnered with Shanghai Cancer Institute for the advancement of CARsgen's CAR-T cancer immunotherapeutics.

The five year partnership will identify and develop novel CAR-T candidates as well as next-generation CAR-T technologies.

In March 2015, CARsgen and Renji Hospital initiated a Phase 1 clinical study to evaluate the safety and early-stage efficacy of CARsgen's glypican 3 (GPC3) chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy.

Dr Zonghai Li, president and CEO, CARsgen, commented, "The preliminary clinical data accumulated from the first six patients is very encouraging. It helps us to identify additional parameters including on-target off-tumor toxicity, effective dose regime, and pre-infusion operations. We plan to continue our clinical test and to enroll up to 20 patients in the ongoing Phase 1 study, in support of our commitment to bring effective treatments to HCC patients through our unique and proprietary immunotherapy."