BMS pays $1.85bn for immuno-oncology programme
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has agreed to pay $1.85 billion for an immuno-oncology programme.
The deal, which was announced yesterday, February 14, will see BMS pay biotech firm Nektar Therapeutics to jointly develop and commercialise Nektar’s lead immuno-oncology programme, NKTR-214.
Under the collaboration, NKTR-214 will be developed in combination with BMS’s Opdivo (nivolumab) and Opdivo plus Yervoy (ipilimumab) on more than 20 indications across nine tumour types, as well as potential combinations with other anti-cancer agents.
NKTR-214 is an investigational immuno-stimulatory therapy. It’s designed to selectively expand cancer-fighting T cells and natural killer (NK) cells directly in the tumour, and increase PD-1 expression on those immune cells.
Giovanni Caforio, managing director, chairman and CEO of BMS, said: “BMS has established Opdivo plus Yervoy as the only approved immunotherapy combination for cancer patients, and built a robust oncology pipeline.”
The commitment to develop NKTR-214 means that BMS now has a “validated immuno-oncology mechanism” that holds “significant potential to expand the benefits that these immuno-oncology agents can bring to patients with cancer”, he added.
Studies in renal cell carcinoma and melanoma are expected to be initiated in mid-2018.
Howard Robin, president and CEO of Nektar, added that BMS is the ideal collaborator to enable Nektar to establish NKTR-214 as a “backbone immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer”.
Robin said: “NKTR-214’s ability to grow tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in vivo and replenish the immune system is critically important, as many patients battling cancer lack sufficient TIL populations to benefit from approved checkpoint inhibitor therapies.”
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