Adaptimmune Ltd.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is spending around $1 billion to acquire a San Diego-based biotechnology company thats trying to treat certain cancers and rare diseases with a slate of cell therapies and genetic medicines.The deal, announced Tuesday, has Roche paying $9 per share of Poseida Therapeutics. Poseida investors may additionally receive as much as $4 per share more via a so-called contingent value right if the biotechs drug programs hit specific research and commercial milestones. The acquisition is expected to close sometime between January and the end of March.The two companies were already working together through a licensing agreement inked in 2022. Terms of the new deal suggest Roche sees even more promise in Poseidas gene editing technologies, which are being used to create allogeneic, or off-the-shelf, cell therapies that dont rely on a patients own donor cells. Roches offer is 215% above Poseidas closing share price on Monday representing one of the largest premiums paid in a big-ticket biopharma acquisition over the past several years.Poseidas therapies target both solid tumors, including prostate, breast and lung, as well as blood cancers like multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia. The company also has a couple genetic medicines directed at the liver to treat hemophilia A and an uncommon swelling disorder known as hereditary angioedema.The acquisition should help Roche drive further progress in allogeneic cell therapy and bring forward potentially first and best-in-class cell therapies in oncology, immunology and neurology, according to Chief Medical Officer Levi Garraway.Garraway added that his company is very encouraged by the early clinical data Poseidas programs have generated so far.Roche isnt alone in its interest. One of Japans biggest drugmakers, Astellas, this spring paid $50 million and offered up to $550 million on the back end to partner with Poseida. The collaboration aims to develop two cell therapies for solid tumors, and was signed less than a year after Astellas took a nearly 9% stake in Poseida.Another Japan-based firm, Takeda Pharmaceutical, spent $45 million in 2021 to get an exclusive worldwide license to some of Poseidas technologies. But Takeda ultimately terminated that agreement in July 2023.Roche noted in a statement that the acquisition hands it not only Poseidas drug programs and suite of technologies, but also the companys manufacturing operations. Poseida has an internal, so-called Good Manufacturing Practices facility thats adjacent to its San Diego headquarters and is the companys sole source of clinical manufacturing.Additionally, the deal gives Roche an entry point into an accelerating industry competition to develop cell therapies for autoimmune diseases. Poseida has a cellular drug that it plans to evaluate as a treatment for lupus and multiple sclerosis.Behind some of its big pharma peers, Roche has been playing catch up in cancer cell therapies. In addition to its earlier Poseida agreement, it has joined forces with Arsenal Biosciences and Adaptimmune, though that latter partnership recently fizzled. '

Plus, news about Brixton Biosciences, Merck KGaA, Medincell, CellProthera and GSK: Adaptimmune inks up to $125M debt financing: The biotech gets $25 million to start as it prepares for a commercial launch of its cell therapy. The money came through shortly after Genentech axed a collaboration that could’ve delivered $3 billion to Adaptimmune. — Kyle LaHucik Tenaya lays off 22% of its staff: The biotech will reduce its workforce to save money for its gene therapies that are in the clinic for certain forms of cardiomyopathy. It had 140 full-time employees at the end of 2023, according to its most recently disclosed tally. — Kyle LaHucik

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Oxford, United Kindgom--(News - May 1, 2024) - Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: ADAP), a company redefining the treatment of solid tumor cancers with cell therapy, will report financial results and provide business updates for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, before the US markets open on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Following the announcement, the Company will host a live webcast at 8:00 a.m. EDT (1:00 p.m. BST) that same day. The press release will be available in the investor section of Adaptimmune's corporate website. A live webcast and replay can be accessed at . Call in information is as follows: 1-800-806-5484 (US or Canada) or +416-340-2217 (International and additional options available HERE) and the passcode is 3025919#. Callers should dial in 5-10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time and simply ask to join the Adaptimmune call. About Adaptimmune Adaptimmune is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on designing, developing, and delivering cell therapies to transform the lives of people with cancer. The Company's unique engineered T-cell receptor (TCR) platform enables the engineering of T-cells to target and destroy cancers across multiple solid tumor types. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements, and include, without limitation: the success, cost and timing of our product development activities and clinical trials and our ability to successfully advance our TCR therapeutic candidates through the regulatory and commercialization processes. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to our business in general, we refer you to our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the year ended 31 December, 2023, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made and we do not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Adaptimmune Contact Investor Relations Juli P. Miller, Ph.D. - VP, Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations T : +1 215 825 9310 M : +1 215 460 8920 Juli.Miller@adaptimmune.com Media Relations Dana Lynch, Senior Director of Corporate Communications M: +1 267 990 1217 Dana.Lynch@adaptimmune.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit