- In conjunction with the business combination agreement, the parties have commitments for $40 million in new investments by institutional investors, including $20 million in conversion of licensing consideration from Cellectis
- Isleworth has $207 million in trust
- Merger expected to be completed in Q3 of 2022; Combined company expected to be listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol INKC.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. and AVENTURA, Fla. and NATICK, Mass., April 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: ISLE) (“Isleworth”), a special purpose acquisition company (NASDAQ: ISLE, ISLEW) and Cytovia Holdings, Inc.(“Cytovia”), a biopharmaceutical company empowering natural killer (NK) cells to fight cancer through stem cell engineering and multispecific antibodies today announced they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. Upon consummation of this combination, Isleworth will be renamed Cytovia Therapeutics, Inc. (the “combined company”) and its common stock and warrants are expected to remain listed on NASDAQ under the ticker symbols INKC and INKCW, respectively.
The combined company will continue Cytovia’s operations and remain focused on developing and manufacturing complementary NK cell and NK engager antibody platforms.
The combined company will be led by Dr. Daniel Teper, the Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Cytovia.
“We are grateful for the strong support from new and existing investors and the team of seasoned entrepreneurs at Isleworth. We expect this transaction to accelerate the execution of Cytovia’s vision to advance NK therapeutics towards a cure for cancer” said Dr. Teper. “We are encouraged by our preclinical data recently presented at AACR, which supports advancing development of our iPSC-derived NK cells (iNK) and Flex-NK™ cell engagers for the treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.”
Bob Whitehead, Isleworth’s CEO, said: “Isleworth evaluated multiple life science companies and was most impressed by the talent and technology assembled by Cytovia. We believe Cytovia is one of the most advanced, innovative cell therapy companies involved with the development of new cancer treatments. Cell therapies in oncology have already brought hope to millions. Cytovia’s approaches could conceivably make similar approaches more conveniently ‘off-the-shelf’ and affordable.”
Cytovia’s Therapeutic Approach
Cytovia aims to accelerate patient access to transformational cell therapies and immunotherapies, addressing several of the most challenging unmet medical needs in oncology.
The company focuses on harnessing the innate immune system by developing complementary and disruptive NK-cell and NK-engager antibody platforms. Specifically, Cytovia is developing three types of iNK cells: unedited iNK cells, TALEN® gene-edited iNK cells with improved function and persistence, and TALEN® gene-edited iNK cells with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR-iNKs) to improve tumor-specific targeting. The second complementary cornerstone technology is a quadrivalent multispecific antibody platform designed to engage NK cells by targeting the NKp46 activating receptor using a proprietary Flex-NK™ technology.
These two technology platforms are being used to develop treatments for patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and solid tumors. Clinical studies are expected to initiate by the end of 2022.
Headquartered in Aventura, FL, Cytovia operates R&D laboratories in Natick, MA and a cGMP cell manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico and has scientific partnerships with Cellectis, CytoImmune Therapeutics, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, INSERM, the New York Stem Cell Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, and the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Cytovia Therapeutics has recently formed CytoLynx Therapeutics, a strategic partnership focused on research and development, manufacturing, and commercialization activities in Greater China and beyond.
Cytovia Pipeline