Roche to Acquire CAR-T Cell Therapy Candidate for Possible Use for MS in Poseida Merger Deal
Researchers are investigating the therapy as a treatment for B-cell malignancies, but they might also investigate as a treatment for multiple sclerosis and lupus.
Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has announced plans to acquire clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Poseida Therapeutics based in San Diego, California The two companies have been in partnership since 2022, focusing on developing allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CART-T) therapies that target blood cancers.
With CAR-T therapy, T cells are obtained from the patient’s (autologous) or a donor’s (allogeneic) blood and re-engineered in a laboratory to produce surface proteins that recognize and attach to antigens on the surface of target cells. The process involves growing millions of altered T cells, which are then infused back into the patient. Poseida’s allogeneic approach allows for cell therapies to be created ahead of time, offering a more widely accessible off-the-shelf product.
With the $1.5 billion deal, Roche will acquire Poseida’s portfolio of pipeline CAR-T cell therapies, including the investigational dual CAR-T therapy provisionally named P-CD19CD20-ALLO1. The therapy is currently in a phase 1 clinical trial investigating its use in adults with difficult-to-treat B-cell malignancies. The companies have already filed an application with the FDA to initiate clinical trials to investigate the agent’s potential use in patients with multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
As a dual CAR-T therapy, P-CD19CD20-ALLO1 targets the CD19 and CD20 proteins on the surface of B-cells. B cells are heavily involved in the inflammation and neurodegeneration that characterizes multiple sclerosis.
“This exciting acquisition will allow us to drive further progress in allogeneic cell therapy while leveraging the successful existing partnership with Poseida,” Levi Garraway, Roche chief medical officer and head of product development, said in a press release.
“We are very encouraged by the early clinical data, and this acquisition builds on our joint progress to catalyse the development of potentially first and best-in-class cell therapies in oncology, immunology and neurology,” he continued.
The companies expect to close the deal in the first quarter of 2025.
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