Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and Century Therapeutics have announced a research collaboration and licence agreement to develop and commercialise up to four induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived, engineered natural killer cell (iNK) and T cell programmes for haematologic malignancies and solid tumours.
According to the agreed terms in the deal, Century will receive an upfront payment of $100m and BMS will make a $50m equity investment in Century Therapeutics stock.
Century Therapeutics will also receive a potential $3bn in milestone payments alongside royalties on global net product sales across various programmes in haematologic malignancies and solid tumours.
The first two programmes involve an acute myeloid leukaemia programme coupled with a programme in multiple myeloma. The plan under these programmes is to incorporate either an iNK or a gamma delta iT platform.
Under the agreement, BMS also has the opportunity to add two additional programmes with Century, subject to certain conditions.
Lalo Flores, chief executive officer at Century Therapeutics, said: “We are pleased to partner with Bristol Myers Squibb, a global leader in oncology and haematology, to further expand our pipeline of iPSC-derived cell therapy products for challenging haematological and solid tumour malignancies.
“Bristol Myers Squibb is an ideal partner for us because they bring extensive clinical development and scientific expertise in cell therapy that will increase the probability of technical success of these programs. Additionally, this collaboration will enable deployment of our next-generation iPSC platform to develop products targeting malignancies that are difficult for biotech companies to tackle on their own,” Flores added.
As per the terms of the agreement, Century accepts responsibility for development candidate discovery and preclinical development activities. Following this, BMS will be responsible for commercialisation activities and clinical development subject to Century’s co-promotional rights on certain programmes.
Rupert Vessey, executive vice president and president of research and early development at BMS, said: “The collaboration with Century Therapeutics is an important part of our investment strategy in next-generation cell therapies for haematologic and solid tumours.
“Century’s iPSC-based gamma delta T and NK cell platforms show promise and are complementary to Bristol Myers Squibb’s existing cell therapy technologies. We look forward to exploring the full potential of the iPSC approach to develop potentially best-in-class allogeneic cell therapies to help patients with haematologic and solid tumour malignancies,” Vessey added.
Forming part of the transaction is Century’s amendment to agreements made with FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics for Japanese development and commercialisation rights for the products under the BMS collaboration.