The Japanese pharmaceutical company Ono Pharmaceutical Ltd (T:4528) is jumping a therapeutic generation by licensing Celyad's (NASDAQ:CYAD) allogeneic preclinical NKR-T cancer cell therapy for Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Allogeneic NKR-T has the same action as the Phase I/II NKR-T autologous product; allogeneic versions could be mass produced and provided “off the shelf”. ONO paid €11.25m cash with €270.75m possible in milestones plus royalties. NKR-T is being tested in two haematological cancers with trials in solid tumours planned for early 2017. On an interim basis, until more data on NKR-T and C-Cure are available, the indicative value moves from €32 to €41 per share.
ONO buys into allogeneic
The NKR-T technology uses a ubiquitous set of ligands expressed on many cancerous cell types. These ligands are recognised by the natural killer NKG2 receptor. By creating T-cells with the NKG2 receptor added, a variety of cancer types, including solid tumours, in theory, can be targeted. Preclinical models of cancer support this. Currently, this is being trialled in autologous cell therapy where the patient’s own cells are harvested, transformed and transfused. The allogeneic version uses the same general mechanism, but is still preclinical. CAR approaches by other companies need a new ligand type every time unless the cancer types are very similar. This CAR complexity and cost explains ONO’s interest in allogeneic NKR-T: a single, mass produced cancer therapy against multiple cancers.
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