Alnuctamab

Under CEO Boerner, BMS continues to peel back a string of deals made under former leader Caforio\'s leadership.\n Bristol Myers Squibb has terminated cell therapy pacts with two biotechs amid \"ongoing portfolio prioritization efforts” within the Big Pharma, one of the affected companies revealed in an SEC document.The cuts were disclosed in separate Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings made by Century Therapeutics and Immatics.Philadelphia-based Century had entered a collaboration with BMS back in 2022 in which the partners were working to develop stem cell-derived, engineered natural killer cell and gamma delta T cell candidates for blood cancers. The Big Pharma paid out $150 million in cash and an equity investment, plus committed more than $3 billion in biobucks.Now, after reviewing its portfolio, BMS is terminating the entire deal “without cause,” according to an SEC document filed Dec. 12. The dissolution is effective March 12, 2025.The programs have stayed in discovery and early-preclinical stages, with Century “encouraged by the scientific progress on the programs,” according to the SEC document. The biotech, which is currently conducting a strategic review of its preclinical pipeline, said it will assess potential opportunities for the programs in acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma.The termination is “disappointing, but okay,” analysts from Leerink Partners wrote in a Dec. 13 note. The BMS decision doesn’t change the analysts\' positive long-term view of Century’s cell therapy platform or lead program, a CD19-targeting autoimmune candidate in phase 1 testing, the Leerink team noted. Given the partial focus on multiple myeloma, the Leerink Partners team wrote that the termination may reflect BMS’ acknowledgement that competitive hurdles in the indication are too high to warrant significant investments in the space. Because of that, the Leerink analysts don\'t assume the termination indicates anything negative about Century’s platform.The reprioritization at the Big Pharma, while “unfortunate,” is consistent with recent pipeline decisions made under CEO Chris Boerner, Ph.D.—who replaced Giovanni Caforio, M.D., last year—that indicate “more judicious resource allocation on oncology assets,” Leerink\'s analysts wrote.Since Boerner has taken the reins, BMS has also dropped a deal related to Agenus’ TIGIT bispecific antibody and an agreement with Eisai for its antibody drug conjugate (ADC).German biotech Immatics can now be added to that list, too. BMS inked a deal related to Immatics’ T-cell engager development in 2022—an expansion of a 2019 pact that focused on an autologous T cell receptor-based therapy (TCR-T). The revised deal included multiple off-the-shelf TCR-T and CAR-T programs, plus an upfront payment of $60 million and the chance to make up to $700 million per program through milestone and royalty payments.In 2023, BMS expanded the deal once again, exercising an option on an unnamed TCR-T.The two pact expansions have now been discarded, effective March 12 of next year, according to Dec. 13 SEC documents. The initial 2019 agreement remains intact. Earlier this year, BMS also jettisoned a bispecific molecule it licensed from Immatics for $150 million upfront in late 2021.The Big Pharma has also discontinued two internal multiple myeloma programs this year, including a phase 3-ready BCMA bispecific called alnuctamab because the company’s “business objectives” changed and a latestage BCMA CAR-T due to slow patient enrollment.