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PRESS RELEASE
24 January 2025
Press Release
Media Contacts:
IB Communications
Reithera and Sillajen Partnership Announced
ReiThera and SillaJen collaborate to develop and produce the SJ-600 series for clinical trials.
ReiThera’s expertise in Vaccinia-based viruses and state-of-the-art facilities ensures seamless development and GMP production.
The SJ-600 series enables repeated administration and intravenous delivery with enhanced effectiveness.
Rome, Italy January 24th 2025 – ReiThera is proud to announce a new partnership with SillaJen through a comprehensive Master Service Agreement (MSA), which establishes ReiThera as the manufacturing partner for SillaJen’s innovative anticancer virus platform, the SJ-600 series. Under this agreement, ReiThera will leverage its extensive expertise to conduct advanced development and GMP production of the SJ-600 series, transforming it into a clinical-ready drug capable of entering trials.
As a global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) based in Italy, ReiThera brings decades of experience in developing and producing antinfective and cancer vaccines, as well as gene therapies. Our recent contributions include playing a pivotal role in the fight against Ebola and Marburg virus outbreaks in Africa by manufacturing and delivering critical vaccine doses to support vaccination campaigns.
Our deep expertise in producing viruses from the Vaccinia lineage—the foundational virus for the SJ-600 series—makes us the ideal partner for this project. With advanced, state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, ReiThera offers a seamless, end-to-end manufacturing process, from early development to GMP-certified production, ensuring unmatched efficiency and quality.
The SJ-600 series represents a breakthrough in anticancer virus technology. Developed collaboratively by the SillaJen Research Institute and Professor Lee’s team at Seoul National University College of Medicine, it introduces next-generation features that enable repeated administration by avoiding neutralization reactions. Additionally, the platform enhances intravenous delivery by expressing the complement regulatory protein ‘CD55’ on the surface of the virus, significantly improving therapeutic potential.
ReiThera is proud to bring its proven capabilities to this partnership, supporting SillaJen in advancing the SJ-600 series into clinical trials and taking another significant step forward in cancer therapy innovation.
Regarding this new collaboration, Sillajen Chief Executive Officer said, “Through collaboration with ReiThera, which has international vaccine development experience and the latest facilities, we are now able to promote standardized mass production of the SJ-600 series,” and “This indicates that we have entered a further stage for licensing out the SJ-600 series.”
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Sillajen on the development and manufacturing of their innovative SJ-600 series. At ReiThera, we pride ourselves on leveraging our extensive experience with virus platforms, State of the Art facilities, and advanced expertise to support groundbreaking therapeutic solutions. This partnership underscores our commitment to driving forward next-generation technologies that have the potential to transform cancer treatment and improve patient outcomes globally.” Said Stefano Colloca, Chief Executive Officer at Reithera.
About SillaJen, Inc.
SillaJen, Inc. (KOSDAQ: 215600) is a publicly held biotech company developing anti-cancer therapies, with its clinical-stage products, Pexa-Vec, an oncolytic viral immunotherapy, and BAL0891, a mitotic checkpoint inhibitor. The company is also developing a unique CD-55 expressing vaccinia virus platform, GEEV®(SJ-600 series), which can be delivered to tumors via intravenous injection while evading the complement system and neutralizing antibodies against oncolytic viruses. Additional information about SillaJen is available at www.sillajen.com.
About ReiThera
ReiThera Srl is a CDMO specialized in the development of scalable processes and GMP manufacturing of viral vectors for gene therapies, genetic vaccines, and advanced medicinal products. With extensive expertise in viral vector production—including Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV), Lentivirus, Adenoviral Vector (AdV), Vaccinia lineage vectors, and Herpes Simplex Vector—ReiThera supports the clinical translation of innovative therapies. The company state-of-the-art facility in Rome, Italy is equipped with stirred-tank bioreactors ranging from 2L to 2000L, fixed-bed bioreactors for adherent cell growth, filling suites, and advanced quality control laboratories. ReiThera’s manufacturing capabilities cover both small- and large-scale production, ensuring rapid transitions from laboratory to clinical and commercial GMP-grade material by using validated platform including:
Vaccinia lineage platform: MVA vector strains, production Cell Lines, Validated manufacturing process at different scale in a GMP class B area, fill & finish, Validated analytical SOP
Adenoviral GRAd platform: GRAd platform for vector generation, Production Cell Lines, fast process verification and transfer to GMP, validated GMP processes at different scales, fill & finish, Validated analytical methods
ReicellAVV Cell Line for AAV vector production for Gene Therapy.
ReiThera has demonstrated its ability to respond quickly to global health challenges through collaborations with research institutes, pharmaceutical companies, and international partners, solidifying its position as a leading Italian company in the biotechnology sector.