Adaptimmune Therapeutics and Galapagos have formed an alliance to manufacture a clinical-stage solid cancer asset in a decentralized way.
Thad HustonAt the center of the deal is Adamtimmune’s T cell therapy, dubbed uzatresgene autoleucel (uza-cel). Adaptimmune will lead clinical research for the asset, with Galapagos driving manufacturing, Galapagos CFO and COO Thad Huston told Endpoints News in an interview.
Adaptimmune will receive $100 million from Galapagos, with $70 million as an upfront payment and $15 million for R&D funding. Another $15 million will be for a proof-of-concept study to test Galapagos’ decentralized manufacturing platform in making uza-cel. Adaptimmune will supply vectors to Galapagos.
After the proof-of-concept study is completed, Galapagos has the right to exclusively license uza-cel worldwide for up to $100 million. Adaptimmune could receive development, regulatory and sales milestone payments of up to $465 million, according to a Thursday company release.
Adaptimmune’s Phase 1 asset uza-cel is currently manufactured centrally, but moving this to a decentralized model could decrease the time it takes to get this to seven days and with fresher cells. Fresh cells do not need cryopreservation and show better safety and viability, Huston said. “It’s like fresh or frozen milk, which is better?”
Both companies are currently in the process of transferring uza-cel manufacturing to Galapagos, Huston said. Once this is completed the proof of concept study will start, he added. It currently takes around nine to 12 months to transfer manufacturing tech over to Galapagos’ platform, but Galapagos is working on cutting this down to four to six months, he said.
But Huston noted there has already been initial in vitro testing to make uza-cel using Galapagos’ platform.
Uza-cel targets the cancer antigen MAGE-A4 which is expressed on solid tumors. There are Phase 1 study data that show uza-cel can potentially offer an overall response rate of 80% in patients (four confirmed partial responses out of five patients) with head and neck cancer. This trial is also recruiting other solid tumor cancers such as melanoma, non-small cell lung, ovarian or urothelial cancer.
Uza-cel is also in a 120-patient Phase 2 trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, but this will not be included in the deal with Galapagos, according to the press release.
Galapagos is in conversations with other companies for future partnerships but none are as advanced as this deal with Adaptimmune, Huston said. The company is looking to expand into other countries such as China, Singapore and Australia, he added.
A few weeks ago, Galapagos announced a deal with Blood Centers of America to gain access to the organization’s community blood centers nationwide to create a decentralized network for CAR-T manufacturing. This allows Galapagos to access sites and hospitals nearer to patients.
Editors Note: This article has been updated to clarify that in vitro testing has already been completed.