Certara Announces Collaboration with Leading Cancer Center to Advance CAR T-cell Therapies

PRINCETON, N.J., July 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Certara, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERT), a global leader in biosimulation, today announced a 2-year collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to develop new biosimulation software. Certara will be working with the MSK Innovation Hub to create a Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy biosimulation platform. CAR T-cell therapy is an immunotherapy that uses specially altered T-cells in the immune system to fight some forms of blood cancer. 

“We are very pleased to work with MSK, a leading cancer hospital and research institution, to accelerate innovative solutions and deliver meaningful impact to cancer patients,” said Piet van der Graaf, senior vice president of Quantitative Systems Pharmacology at Certara. “After CAR T-cell therapy is infused into the body, the altered T-cells multiply and proliferate, so a precise and personalized dosing approach is essential. We are excited to use biosimulation to identify optimal therapeutic strategies using in silico, computer-based trials to guide precision dosing in virtual and actual patients.”

This new biosimulation platform initially aims to address key questions on the optimal dose and regimen for CAR T-cell therapies in patients with multiple myeloma and will leverage de-identified MSK clinical data. Certara hopes to expand the use of the CAR T-cell biosimulation platform to evaluate combination therapies and enhance the manufacturing learning process for next generation CAR T-cell therapies. 

“While approved CAR T products for multiple myeloma are effective, relapses are common and additional efforts are needed to optimize these treatments,” said Dr. Sham Mailankody, an MSK medical oncologist and one of the project’s collaborators. “We are hopeful that this effort will provide important insights into improving the efficacy of these treatments, including identifying factors associated with durable response, and understanding future direction in terms of combination strategies.”

The MSK Innovation Hub brings together innovative, digitally focused companies with MSK’s community of researchers, clinicians, and digital health professionals through a program designed to establish innovative collaborations that can have a tangible impact on treatment or management of cancer.

About Certara
Certara accelerates medicines using proprietary biosimulation software, technology and services to transform traditional drug discovery and development. Its clients include more than 2,000 biopharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and regulatory agencies across 62 countries.

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Jieun W. Choe
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