Agenus Inc (NASDAQ:AGEN) has announced that it formed a subsidiary known as AgenTus Therapeutics which will focus on the cell therapy business.

Agenus announced the new development on Monday revealing that its new subsidiary called AngenTus Therapeutics, which will take over Agenus’ cell therapy business. The new subsidiary will focus on enhancing the efficiency, speed and business focus towards the creation of breakthrough “living treatments” that will provide advanced cures for patients suffering from cancer.

Agenus will also provide licensed intellectual property to AgenTus as well as a governance and management team to run the operations. The biopharma has also appointed Bruno Lucidi as the Chief Executive Officer in charge of the new subsidiary. The company also believes that Lucidi is the ideal person for the job because he has been in the financial, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries for more than 30 years and thus has a lot of experience. He also has also played key roles in building businesses and launching innovative products, especially in the therapeutics market.

“AgenTus will operate with remarkable science, innovation, and access to Agenus capabilities and expertise, all giving the subsidiary competitive advantage through the delivery of innovative living drugs to cancer patients looking for cures,” stated Garo Armen the CEO and Chairman of Agenus.

Angenus also revealed that it will team up with AgenTus on various projects that will use proprietary technologies and skills that the parent firm will provide. The subsidiary will also be granted access to discovery platforms that have the capacity of identifying and engineering Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) and T Cell Receptors (TCRs). All this will be carried out through various platforms.

AgenTus will also work towards advancing adoptive cell therapy formats that will significantly improve living drugs. Assets that are currently in the pipeline will be developed for utility as either single agents or compound treatments for treating hematological cancers and solid tumors. The subsidiary will also carry out lead programs via preclinical evaluations.

Agenus stock closed the latest trading session on Monday at $4.26 after tanking by 1.62 percent compared to the value of the stock during the previous close.