Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has announced that it will be acquiring 2seventy bio’s pipeline of investigational cell therapies, along with its discovery and clinical manufacturing capabilities, for $5m upfront.
The bluebird bio spinout said it will now focus exclusively on Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel), its Bristol Myers Squibb-partnered CAR-T therapy approved to treat multiple myeloma.
An estimated 150 2seventy employees who support the acquired programmes will join Regeneron Cell Medicines, a newly formed research and development unit to advance cell therapies and combination approaches in oncology and immunology.
In 2018, Regeneron and bluebird bio, which spun out 2seventy bio in 2021, partnered to “leverage their complementary technologies to discover novel cell therapy approaches to address cancer”. Under the terms of this agreement, Regeneron had the right to opt-in to a co-development/co-commercialisation arrangement for collaboration targets.
The latest agreement, expected to close in the first half of this year, will see Regeneron gain full development and commercialisation rights of 2seventy bio’s preclinical and clinical stage pipeline and assume ongoing programme, infrastructure and personnel costs related to the programmes.
In addition to the $5m upfront, 2seventy bio will receive a single milestone payment for the first major market approval of the first approved product. Regeneron will also pay 2seventy bio a low single-digit percent royalty on revenues generated by the products.
George Yancopoulos, board co-chair, co-founder, president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron, said: “Our expertise in antibody technologies and emerging genetics capabilities, combined with 2seventy’s cell therapy platforms, presents a significant opportunity to address cancer and other serious diseases in new and impactful ways.
“By integrating 2seventy’s pipeline of cell therapies and their talented team, we are complementing our own expertise and portfolio of innovative immuno-oncology treatments, which will allow for potentially transformative combinations that can really make a difference in patients’ lives.”
2seventy’s current chief scientific officer, Philip Gregory, who will be appointed senior vice president, head of Regeneron Cell Medicines, added: “Being part of Regeneron not only supercharges our ability to execute on our current portfolio of CAR-T and T cell receptor programmes but also creates unique opportunities for the combination of cell-based medicines with antibodies and other Regeneron biologics.”