Astellas, Poseida Collaborate To Develop Novel Allogeneic Cell Therapies In Oncology

(RTTNews) - Astellas Pharma Inc. (ALPMY, ALPMY) said that its subsidiary, Xyphos Biosciences Inc, and Poseida Therapeutics Inc. (PSTX) have entered into a research collaboration and license agreement to develop novel convertibleCAR programs by combining the innovative cell therapy platforms from each of the companies.

As per the terms of the agreement, the companies plan to combine Poseida's proprietary allogeneic CAR-T platform with Xyphos' ACCEL technology to create one Poseida-developed CAR-T construct to form the basis of two convertibleCAR product candidates targeting solid tumors.

Xyphos will reimburse Poseida for costs incurred as part of the research agreement and will be responsible for the development and future commercialization of products generated from the collaboration.

Poseida will receive US$50 million upfront plus potential development and sales milestones and contingency payments of up to US$550 million in total. Additionally, Poseida is eligible for up to low double digit tiered royalties as a percentage of net sales.