Eterna to present on development of mRNA-engineered iPSC line at ASGCT meeting

Eterna Therapeutics announced that Elizabeth Belcher will present a poster at the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy. Allogeneic cell therapies derived from induced pluripotent stem cells can greatly reduce the manufacturing complexities of autologous and donor-derived allogeneic cell therapies such as scalability, batch-to-batch consistency, and cost. However, host immune cell recognition and clearance of exogenous cells can lead to iatrogenic toxicities and ineffective therapeutic responses. We previously reported generation of iPSCs using an mRNA-based process that avoids the genomic integration and instability risks of DNA and viral reprogramming methods. Here, we report the development of an mRNA-engineered iPSC line developed using UltraSlice to express a B2M-HLA-E fusion transgene in lieu of the endogenous B2M gene product to mimic native B2M expression. These cells may prove useful for the rapid development of therapeutics with the potential for increased efficacy and safety owing to the immune-evasive nature of the cells.