Cellerant Therapeutics

Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded in 2003 and headquartered in San Carlos, California. The company focuses on developing cell- and antibody-based immunotherapies to treat hematologic malignancies and other blood-related disorders.

The former President and CEO, Ram Mandalam, Ph.D., has over thirty years of experience in cell therapy and biologics development. Before leading Cellerant, he was the Executive Director of Product Development at Geron Corporation and held research and development roles at Aastrom Biosciences. Under his leadership, Cellerant established a pipeline of therapeutic candidates and advanced from an early-stage to a clinical-stage company. The company has raised a total of $51 million over 15 funding rounds from investors including Allen & Company and SBIR.

Cellerant's product portfolio is based on regulating the hematopoietic (blood-forming) system. One of its primary products is romyelocel-L (CLT-008), a universal, off-the-shelf myeloid progenitor cell therapy designed to reduce infection risk during neutropenia, a common side effect of chemotherapy. A key advantage of romyelocel-L is that it does not require HLA matching between donor and recipient. In a Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), romyelocel-L demonstrated a reduction in infections and hospital stay duration. The FDA has granted it Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation. The therapy was also developed for Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS) under a contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

The company is also advancing two antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) products. CLT030 is an ADC that targets the CLL1 protein, which is highly expressed on AML leukemic stem cells (LSCs) but not on normal hematopoietic stem cells. This specificity allows CLT030 to selectively kill cancer cells and LSCs, which are often responsible for disease relapse, while sparing healthy cells. A second ADC, CSC012-ADC, is in development for other hematologic malignancies and solid tumor indications. In 2020, Cantargia AB acquired a patent portfolio from Cellerant related to the IL1RAP protein, a target for antibody therapy in leukemia.

Keywords: cell therapy, antibody-drug conjugates, immunotherapy, hematologic malignancies, acute myeloid leukemia, neutropenia, romyelocel-L, CLT030, blood disorders, clinical-stage biotechnology, cancer stem cells, hematopoietic system, BARDA, Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy, RMAT, CLL1, IL1RAP, myeloid progenitor cells, universal cell therapy, biodefense