The Biopharma Report #012
AstraZeneca Acquires Neogene, Novartis Announces Promising Pluvicto Data
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AstraZeneca to Acquire Neogene Therapeutics
Cell therapy has undoubtedly become one of the hottest spaces in the industry. The approvals of Novartis’ Kymriah and Gilead’s Yescarta have revolutionized the field of oncology. Novartis and Gilead were followed by BMS and J&J with their own CAR-T cell therapies. But two cancer behemoths were late to the party - Roche and AstraZeneca.
Until very recently, both Roche and AstraZeneca were prioritizing antibodies over cell therapies to compete in the oncology space. But things started to change in the last couple of years.
All approved CAR-T cell therapies are autologous and target blood cancers. So naturally, the next frontiers in cell therapy are “off-the-shelf” allogenic therapies and solid tumor targeting. The first pharma that is able to develop/put its hands on one (or both!) of these innovations will have hit a gigantic home run.
Roche and AstraZeneca went from not being truly interested in cell therapy to directly wanting to crack the off-the-shelf and solid tumor code.
In 2021, Roche made a deal with Adaptimmune to acquire the rights to a bunch of its off-the-shelf programs. Almost a year later, Roche did the same thing with Poseida Therapeutics. Then, a few months ago, Roche signed a pact with Arsenal Biosciences to access its technology to develop CAR-T cell therapies that target solid tumors.
AstraZenaca’s path to cell therapy was different. AstraZeneca has been building up its off-the-shelf cell capabilities internally in stealth mode over the last 3 years. The company’s end goal is to create a screening system that would identify the most adequate off-the-shelf therapy for each patient.
AstraZeneca’s stance was that it was prioritizing internal development over M&A. The Neogene deal is a good indicator that AstraZeneca is becoming aggressive in terms of cell therapy - and rightfully so.
It is worth noting that this wasn’t the first time AstraZeneca has looked outside for cell therapy opportunities. Last year, it invested $120M in Chinese biotech Cellular Biomedicine Group (CBMG). Both companies are collaborating on an autologous cell therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma that is currently in Phase I. What is interesting about this asset is the technology that CBMG is using. What it essentially does is that it allows the therapy to be functional in “harsh” environments.
Neogene Therapeutics’ platform is based on TCR-T cell therapy. In a way, TCR-T therapy is a variant of CAR-T cell therapy, the main difference being the kind of antigens these two therapies recognize. TCR-T cell therapy is a promising strategy to treat solid tumors, and the reason is that it targets intracellular neoantigens in tumors that don’t have proteins expressed on the surface of cancerous cells.
Neogene Therapeutics’ platform basically allows it to screen for neoantigens to target and engineer cell therapies that are specific to these neoantigens. It can actually engineer therapies that target multiple specific neoantigens - which should lead to better clinical outcomes.
AstraZeneca may be getting Neogene’s lead asset, NT-125, as well as other promising candidates - but the real value is in the platform. The deal, in addition to its internal capabilities, makes AstraZeneca well-positioned to become a force to be reckoned with in the cell therapy space.
TCR-T is undoubtedly an exciting and promising modality. But it hasn’t historically been an area of great success. In addition to Neogene, only two companies have tried their luck with TCR-T: Pact Pharma and Alaunos. Pact Pharma ran into financial hardships and eventually had to suspend the Phase I study of its TCR-T asset citing business reasons. The fate of the program is unclear until now. Alaunos on the other hand has had very lengthy delays for a Phase II study it is sponsoring for its TCR-T asset - possibly due to the cell engineering process. Alaunos and Neogene are using different approaches to engineer their cells - but will Neogene face similar challenges?
One thing is clear - it certainly does help to be a subsidiary of one of the biggest players in the industry.
Novartis Announces Positive Pluvicto Data
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