IASO Biotechnology, headquartered in Shanghai and Nanjing, China, with US operations in Pleasanton, California, has signed a technology licensing agreement with Instituto Butantan, a Brazilian public institution, for the local development of an autologous CAR-T cell therapy targeting hematological cancers in Brazil. The therapy, equecabtagene autoleucel, is directed at the BCMA antigen expressed on malignant plasma cells and is intended for patients who have not responded to conventional treatments. The asset received regulatory approval in China in 2023 under the brand name Fucaso. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Under the agreement, cell development and manufacturing will be conducted at the Advanced Therapies Center of São Paulo (Nutera-SP), a facility coordinated by Butantan with infrastructure dedicated to cell therapy production. The structure positions Butantan as the local development and manufacturing partner within Brazil, while IASO Bio retains its broader global commercial footprint. No details on exclusivity terms, royalty structures, or milestone arrangements were disclosed.
The deal is framed around expanding patient access within Brazil’s public health system, the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). CAR-T cell therapies currently carry per-patient costs of up to USD 500,000, and access in Brazil is presently limited to the private healthcare sector. Butantan’s status as a public institution is cited as a mechanism for reducing manufacturing costs and enabling potential future incorporation of the therapy into the SUS.
IASO Bio, founded in 2017, describes itself as a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on cell therapies and biologics for hematological malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Instituto Butantan is identified as the largest producer of vaccines and serums in Latin America and the primary manufacturer of immunobiologicals in Brazil.