Imugene and JW Therapeutics announced a co-development collaboration to evaluate the combination of Imugene's oncolytic virus CF33-CD19 (onCARlytics) and JW's Carteyva—a CD19-directed autologous CAR-T cell therapy—for patients with advanced solid tumours.

This collaboration includes pre-clinical in-vitro and in-vivo studies, followed by a Phase-1 investigator-initiated trial to be conducted exclusively in China at premier CAR-T clinical centres. The approach utilises Imugene's CF33-CD19 virus to induce CD19 expression on tumour cells, rendering them susceptible to targeting by CD19 CAR-T therapies—a transformative "mark and kill" strategy.

"This collaboration allows us to validate our onCARlytics platform in combination with an approved autologous CAR-T product. We believe Carteyva, which is already approved in blood cancer, is an ideal choice, and this initiative enables us to generate impactful data efficiently while exploring a breakthrough treatment paradigm for solid tumours," said Leslie Chong, Managing Director and CEO, Imugene.

With clear go/no-go decision points, and milestones, the collaboration ensures disciplined capital allocation while enabling strategic flexibility.