Gracell Biotechnologies Granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation for FasTCAR-enabled BCMA/CD19 Dual-targeting CAR-T Cell Therapy Candidate GC012F for the Treatment of Multiple Myeloma

Gracell Biotechnologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GRCL) (“Gracell”), a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing highly efficacious and affordable cell therapies for the treatment of cancer, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug Designation for GC012F, Gracell’s FasTCAR-enabled BCMA/CD19 dual-targeting CAR-T cell therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

“As our lead candidate currently being developed on Gracell’s FasTCAR next-day manufacturing technology platform, GC012F is a unique BCMA and CD19 dual-targeting CAR-T cell therapy,” commented Dr. Martina Sersch, Chief Medical Officer of Gracell. “GC012F has demonstrated fast, deep and durable responses in patients with Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma in an ongoing IIT study in China with most patients on study being high risk according to mSMART 3.0 criteria, a difficult-to-treat patient population. We are very excited about being granted Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of Multiple Myeloma by the U.S. FDA, another key milestone in advancing our program globally. Multiple Myeloma patients are in need of more efficacious and tolerable therapies providing deep and durable responses and ultimately extending progression free and overall survival.”

The long-term follow-up data for GC012F was presented in June at the ASCO 2021 Annual Meeting and the EHA 2021 Congress. GC012F is currently being evaluated in investigator-initiated trials in China, including in newly diagnosed Multiple Myeloma patients. The tech transfer to Lonza to support manufacturing of GC012F in the U.S. is currently ongoing, with U.S. IND filing targeting the first half of 2022.

Granted by the U.S. FDA, Orphan Drug Designation incentivizes the development of innovative drugs and biologics for the safe and effective treatment of rare diseases and conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Orphan Drug Designation qualifies the sponsor of the therapy for certain development incentives, including up to seven years of market exclusivity upon regulatory approval, as well as tax credits for clinical testing and reduction of or exemption from prescription drug user fees.