United Therapeutics Corporation Acquires Thymmune Therapeutics
United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR) announced today it has acquired Thymmune Therapeutics, Inc. (Thymmune), a privately held, preclinical stage biotechnology company developing scalable, regenerative thymic cell therapies for the potential treatment of post-transplant organ tolerance, immunodeficiencies, and autoimmune diseases.
The thymus is a critical organ for the development and proper function of key parts of the immune system, including training T-cells, which are essential for fighting infections and other diseases. Thymmune has a proprietary process for converting human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) into thymic cells, which — once inside the body — mature into cell types that can restore healthy T-cell function.
Thymmune’s lead candidate, THY-100, is in preclinical development for congenital athymia, an ultra-rare and life-threatening condition in which infants are born without a functional thymus. Animal studies have shown that treatment with THY-100 results in the in vivo formation of a neo-thymus that is capable of facilitating T-cell development. The clinical proof of concept and further development of THY-100 has the potential to broaden thymic regenerative medicine approaches for transplant tolerance, serious immune-mediated diseases, and enhanced longevity for older adults with diminished T-cell function.
