As a stem cell transplant physician scientist at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dr. Simrit Parmar cared for patients whose leukemia or lymphoma had been cured by a stem cell transplant, only to lose them to graft-versus-host disease. That experience drove her laboratory's work on regulatory T cells derived from umbilical cord blood: the immune system's natural peacekeepers.
Encouraging results from her laboratory were translated into early clinical trials. In 2016, the technology was spun out of MD Anderson to form Cellenkos, with a clear goal: turn cord blood Tregs into medicines that can be given across HLA barriers with minimal matching, and without additional immunosuppression, lymphodepletion or chemotherapy.
One early decision shaped everything that followed. Even as a small company, Cellenkos chose to build its own GMP manufacturing and control its supply chain, storage and distribution. That foundation led to the proprietary CRANE® process (Cord blood Regulatory T cells Activated and ENriched), which generates disease-specific products enriched for tissue-homing markers.
