– Combining both companies’ cell therapy leadership and expertise, the collaboration covers the research and development of “off-the-shelf” cell therapies for up to five shared cancer targets and the development of a novel allogeneic personalized cell therapy platform –

– Adaptimmune will receive $150 million upfront, $150 million over the next five years in additional payments, and development, regulatory and commercial milestones payments potentially exceeding $3 billion in aggregate value, as well as royalties, across multiple programs –

PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA and OXFORDSHIRE, UK I September 07, 2021 I Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (Nasdaq: ADAP), a leader in cell therapy to treat cancer, announced today that it has entered into a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) to develop and commercialize allogeneic cell therapies to treat multiple oncology indications.

“We are proud to partner with Genentech, given their commitment to patients and science in the cancer immunology field. This collaboration broadens Adaptimmune’s leadership position in developing allogeneic cell therapies building on our in-depth knowledge gained from our autologous clinical programs,” said Adrian Rawcliffe, Adaptimmune’s Chief Executive Officer. “Through this collaboration, our platform will form the basis of a personalized allogeneic cell therapy vision, where any patient can receive a T-cell product for their cancer; a significant step towards our goal of making cell therapies both curative and mainstream.”

“We believe allogeneic cell therapies could be a game-changing approach for developing personalized therapy platforms based on individual cancer patients’ unique needs,” said James Sabry, M.D., Ph.D., global head of Pharma Partnering, Roche. “This partnership, which combines Adaptimmune’s allogeneic platform with Genentech’s expertise in developing personalized therapies, complements our other efforts to discover and develop personalized cell therapies. It holds the promise to change how we treat cancer and brings us another step closer to making personalized healthcare a reality.”

The collaboration has two components:

  1. Development of allogeneic T-cell therapies for up to five shared cancer targets
  2. Development of personalized allogeneic T-cell therapies

For each component, Adaptimmune will be responsible for developing clinical candidates using its induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived allogeneic platform to produce T-cells (iT cells). Genentech will be responsible for the input TCRs and subsequent clinical development and commercialization.

Under the terms of the agreement, Adaptimmune will receive an upfront payment of $150 million and additional payments of $150 million over five years, unless the agreement is earlier terminated. In addition, Adaptimmune may be eligible to receive research, development, regulatory and commercial milestones payments potentially exceeding $3 billion in aggregate value.

Adaptimmune will also receive tiered royalties on net sales in the mid-single to low-double digits. 

Adaptimmune has the right to opt in to a 50/50 U.S. profit/cost share on “off-the-shelf” products. If Adaptimmune elects to opt in, then Adaptimmune will be eligible to share 50 percent of profits and losses from U.S. sales on such products and is eligible to receive ex-U.S. regulatory and sales-based milestone payments, as well as royalties on ex-U.S. net sales.

The effectiveness of the agreement is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.

Virtual update on Adaptimmune’s allogeneic platform
Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 08:00 a.m. EDT
The Company will host a live virtual update to discuss its allogeneic platform and future development plans at 08:00 a.m. EDT (01:00 p.m. BST), on Thursday, September 9. You can join the event with this link: https://bit.ly/3jHI4KP. More details, as well as a replay of the event, can be found on the Investor Relations tab of the Company’s website: https://bit.ly/2WRDa4C.

About Adaptimmune
Adaptimmune is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel cancer immunotherapy products for people with cancer. The Company’s unique SPEAR (Specific Peptide Enhanced Affinity Receptor) T-cell platform enables the engineering of T-cells to target and destroy cancer across multiple solid tumors. 

SOURCE: Adaptimmune