Pfizer will contribute its lead allogenic chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) candidate UCART19, licensed from Servier—as well as 16 preclinical CAR-T candidates licensed from Servier and Cellectis—to a cancer-fighting startup created with $300 million in financing to advance development of the therapies. Pfizer has taken a 25% stake in the new company, Allogene Therapeutics, which will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize UCART19 in the U.S., with Servier retaining UCART19 development rights elsewhere in the world. UCART19 is a Phase I allogenic CAR-T candidate that Pfizer has partnered with Servier to develop for treatment of CD19-expressing hematological malignancies, with an initial focus on acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Allogene and Servier plan to advance UCART19 into Phase II next year. "We believe that under the strong scientific and clinical development and regulatory expertise of Allogene’s leadership team, the portfolio of CAR-T assets contributed by Pfizer will be well positioned to rapidly advance into potential innovative new therapies, and ultimately to ...
Original Article: Pfizer Hands UCART19, Allogenic CAR-T Portfolio Rights to $300M Startup