Notch Therapeutics Named 2021 Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year by Life Sciences BC
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, August 6, 2021— Notch Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing renewable, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapies for cancer, announced today that the company has been recognized as the 2021 Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year by Life Sciences BC, British Columbia’s life sciences trade association.
The annual Life Sciences BC Awards recognize the achievements of individuals, companies, and organizations that drive innovation in healthcare to improve patient care outcomes. The award will be presented at Life Sciences BC’s 23rd Annual Life Sciences BC Awards virtual celebration on September 23, 2021.
Notch has unlocked the ability to generate T cells and other immune cells from renewable stem cell sources. The company’s technologies have the potential to make cell therapy mainstream by fully enabling best-in-class commercial manufacturing of stem-cell derived immunotherapies that bypass the need to use a patient’s own immune cells. The company’s initial focus is on developing treatments for solid tumors.
In February 2021, Notch closed an $85 million USD Series A financing. The company has approximately 55 employees, 31 based in BC. Over the next few years, Notch plans to continue to expand its Vancouver headquarters and satellite offices in Toronto, Ontario and Seattle, Washington.
“Notch is honored to be recognized by Life Sciences BC as the 2021 Emerging Company of the Year,” said David Main, President and Chief Executive Officer of Notch. “This award is a tribute to our outstanding team of scientific leaders, staff, and investors who are committed to our drive to deliver safer, consistently manufactured, more cost-effective cell immunotherapies to patients.”
About Life Sciences BC
Life Sciences BC is a not-for-profit, non-government industry association that supports and represents the life sciences community of British Columbia through leadership, facilitation of investment and partnering, and promotion of our world-class science and industry. For more information, please visit https://lifesciencesbc.ca.
About Notch Therapeutics (www.notchtx.com)
Notch is developing a pipeline of cellular immunotherapies originating from pluripotent stem cells that are specifically engineered to address the underlying biology of complex disease systems. The company has unlocked the ability for large-quantity production of T cells and other cells from any source of stem cells to bring best-in-class cell therapies for cancer and other immune disorders to thousands of patients. The core of the Notch platform is the Engineered Thymic Niche (ETN), which enables precision control of cell fate during the differentiation and expansion of stem cells in suspension bioreactors without the need for feeder cells or serum. The ETN has the potential to generate immunotherapies with decreased variability, increased potency, and engineered improvements. The technology was invented in the laboratories of Juan-Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker, Ph.D. at Sunnybrook Research Institute and Peter Zandstra, Ph.D., FRSC at the University of Toronto. Notch was founded by these two institutions, in conjunction with MaRS Innovation (now Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners) and the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), which initially incubated the company.
Contact:
Mary Moynihan
M2Friend Biocommunications
802-951-9600
mary@m2friend.com