Laurus Labs has signed definitive agreements to acquire additional stake of 7.24% in Immunoadoptive Cell Therapy Private Limited (lmmunoACT), an advanced cell and gene therapy company for a cash consideration of Rs.80 crore.

Post the completion of the deal, Laurus Labs' stake in ImmunoACT will increase to 33.86% (on fully diluted basis). This fresh infusion of capital will enable ImmunoACT to fast track the additional supply of the lead candidate HCAR-19 along with the further expansion of the multi-location GMP facilities for manufacturing Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells (CAR-T cells) treatment to support the growing need for scalable manufacturing. Additionally, some promoters and senior management of Laurus Labs would also acquire in ImmunoACT for a 0.54% stake (before this investment) for approximately Rs. 4 crore at the same price and terms through secondary purchases.

Laurus Labs' earlier investment in ImmunoACT in November 2021 has supported ImmunoACT in successfully creating GMP manufacturing facility along with state of the art R& D facility at Navi Mumbai and currently conducting Phase II study at various hospitals including Tata Memorial Hospital. Phase I data was presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) during Nov-2022 that showed a favorable balance of efficacy and toxicity with lowgrade cytokine release syndrome.

Commenting on the development, Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Satyanarayana Chava stated "This Investment further strengthens Laurus Labs' commitment to access novel Cell and Gene Therapy technology and enhance its affordability for patients. This investment will further help ImmunoACT to gear up for the manufacture of more treatments. This acquisition is also a step towards our commitment to promote and access novel technologies and making it commercially viable in unmet medical needs of auto immune diseases and oncology. We are looking to invest further in disruptive innovation with a disciplined approach, to enable our strategic partners and customers to bring these promising therapies to patients."

Commenting on the development, Founder and Chairman of ImmunoACT , Dr.Rahul Purwar stated that - "With the Laurus first tranche investment, ImmunoACT established GMP facility along with state of the Art R & D facility and sufficiently met funding requirement for conducting on-going Phase II trial. The Current investment will help us to gear up to service more patients across India. We are expecting further collaboration to bring CAR T technologies to the needy Indian Patients at affordable price."