Gilead presses forward with next-gen CAR-T, inking deal with small synthetic biology startup
Gilead is dipping its toes into some early-stage discovery work.
Through its subsidiary Kite Pharma, Gilead signed a deal with California biotech Refuge Biotechnologies to access a gene expression platform with the goal of developing cell therapies for blood cancers. No dollar amounts were disclosed, but Gilead said in a press release that the deal fits in its larger mission to create a “new generation” of CAR-Ts.
There will be the classic upfront-and-milestone-payment structure, but financial details remain a secret for now. In exchange for the upfront, Gilead gets an exclusive license and gets all responsibility for R&D, manufacturing and commercialization.
Gilead and Kite have already brought two CAR-Ts across the FDA finish line in Yescarta and Tecartus, two of the six greenlighted therapies in this class. The pair of medicines makes the companies leaders in the field (Bristol Myers Squibb is the only other biopharma with multiple CAR-Ts), and Gilead has tried to keep its foot on the gas to press its advantage.
Thursday’s move comes a few days after Gilead signed another deal with MacroGenics for bispecifics in cancer. The big biotech shelled out $60 million upfront to its partner and promised nearly $1.7 billion in milestones, aiming to target CD123 as a potential treatment path for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.
For Refuge, the deal comes as the biotech has remained largely quiet in the four years since putting together a $25 million Series B. The company claimed Thursday that its platform can modulate the transcription of targeted genes in an “on-demand” fashion. Though Refuge is licensing the blood cancer rights to Gilead, it will retain its programs in solid tumors.
https://endpts.com/gilead-presses-forward-with-next-gen-car-t-inking-deal-with-small-synthetic-biology-startup/
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