ALA exercises Option for Baylor College of Medicine assets
Highlights:
Exercising the Exclusive Option for assets developed at Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor).
Arovella and BCM to move forward with negotiations for a Definitive License Agreement (DLA).
Licence to include CARs targeting neuroblastoma (GD2), liver cancer (GPC3), and potentially additional Intellectual Property.
Both CARs have been used within FDA IND-enabled clinical trials supporting their safety profiles.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA 05 November 2025: Arovella Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: ALA), a biotechnology company focused on developing its invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cell therapy platform, is pleased to announce that it has exercised the Exclusive Option with Baylor College of Medicine (Baylor) to begin negotiations for the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) and the invariant Natural Killer T (iNKT) cell platform intellectual property.
On 5 May 2025, Arovella announced that it entered into an Exclusive Option agreement with Baylor for two new CARs and additional iNKT-related intellectual property with a six-month Option Period. The two Parties now have 60 days to reach a definitive license agreement (DLA) with an option to extend the period by 180 days.
Arovella’s CEO and MD, Dr Michael Baker, commented, “We have conducted thorough due diligence across the CARs being developed and the additional IP included in the portfolio. Based on our assessment, we are delighted to exercise the Option and engage in discussions for a Definitive License Agreement. The data for the technologies is promising, and we believe a relationship with Baylor, and Professor Leonid Metelitsa’s group is an excellent outcome for the continued development of next-generation CAR-iNKT cell products. We look forward to the discussions relating to the Licence Agreement.”
The two leading CARs within the Exclusive Option target GD2 and GPC3, which are clinically validated targets for solid tumours with early-stage results from FDA IND-enabled clinical trials. Significant capital and resources have been invested developing these CARs, which provides an excellent foundation for Arovella to build on.