Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Cartography Biosciences, Inc. , an oncology company advancing a pipeline of antibody therapeutics that more precisely target tumors, today announced the appointment of four new members to its Clinical Advisory Board (CAB). The new members include Kristen Hege M.D., Former SVP, Early Clinical Development, Hematology/Oncology & Cell Therapy at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS); Bridget Keenan M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor at University of California, San Francisco, Dirk Nagorsen, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Affini-T Therapeutics and, Josep Tabernero, M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Medical Oncology Department at the Vall d´Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona. “Our newly appointed advisors bring world-class academic, scientific and multi-disciplinary biopharma expertise to the advancement and delivery of novel cancer therapies to patients,” said Kevin Parker, Ph.D., CEO of Cartography Biosciences. “Our platform has identified several novel targets and target pairs that we have rapidly engineered new T-cell engagers and ADCs against. As these programs prepare to enter the clinic, we determined the need to assemble the very best minds to help guide our efforts and provide real-world inputs to our plans. We are grateful for the commitment of these prominent experts and look forward to their contributions, beginning with our lead asset CB21 in colorectal cancer, which is on track for an investigational new drug (IND) application next year.” Dr. Hege retired from BMS in 2023 where she served as SVP Early Clinical Development, Hematology/Oncology & Cell Therapy. While there she led the advancement of small molecules, biologics and cell therapies from first-in-human through clinical proof-of-concept studies. Additionally, she led the BCMA CART cell program (Abecma) in multiple myeloma from target selection through FDA approval. Prior to BMS, she served a similar role at Celgene as Vice President, Translational Development. Dr. Hege has also held an active faculty position at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center since 1996, most recently as Clinical Professor of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, serving in that role as a volunteer since 2008. Dr. Hege currently serves on the boards of directors at Mersana, Adaptimmune, and Kelonia Therapeutics. She received her M.D. from UCSF and hematology/oncology subspecialty training at Harvard and UCSF. Dr. Keenan is an oncologist and physician-scientist focused on promising new treatments for digestive system cancers. Her research investigates various immunotherapy approaches to fighting cancer, including checkpoint inhibitors, cellular therapies, bispecific antibodies and other new treatments. Dr. Keenan’s current clinical practice is in the Cancer Immunotherapy Clinic at UCSF, where she works with patients with solid tumors who are being treated in early immunotherapy clinical trials. She is the co-director of the UCSF Cancer Immunotherapy Program. Dr. Keenan earned her medical degree and a doctorate in immunology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF. Dr. Nagorsen has more than 20 years of experience in hematology and oncology, both in academia and industry. He joined Affini-T Therapeutics as CMO in 2022 after more than 10 years at Amgen, where he was Vice President Early Development and Therapeutic Area Head, Hematology & Oncology Early Development, overseeing more than 30 oncology programs spanning IND filings through Phase 1/2, including the recently approved IMDELLTRA™ (TARLATAMAB-DLLE) a first-in-class DLL3-targeted bispecific T-cell engager for recurrent small-cell lung cancer. His groundbreaking research has resulted in over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts, including papers published in New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet Oncology. He earned his medical doctorate and his habilitation (equivalent of a PhD) in experimental medicine and tumor immunology from Charité University Medicine Berlin. Dr. Tabernero has spent his career providing care at the forefront of oncology treatment paradigms. He is the Head of the Medical Oncology Department at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, a Director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology and Professor of Medicine at Universitat de Vic in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Tabernero has been the Principal Investigator of several clinical studies and translational projects with targeted immune-based therapies. His research focuses on potentiating molecular therapies and targeting specific oncoproteins for personalized care. Dr. Tabernero serves on the Editorial Boards of various top-tier journals including Annals of Oncology, ESMO Open, Cancer Discovery and Clinical Cancer Research. Dr. Tabernero earned his M.D., and Ph.D., degrees from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. About Cartography Biosciences Cartography Biosciences is building a differentiated oncology pipeline of antibody-based therapies designed to target tumors more precisely than existing therapeutics. Cartography’s ATLAS and SUMMIT drug discovery platforms are powered by an industry-leading, fully integrated dataset spanning over a thousand cell types across the healthy body and large-scale profiling of individual cells from patient tumors. By leveraging petabytes of proprietary data, along with insights from machine learning and AI, Cartography is identifying and developing therapeutics against highly specific targets and target pairs to build a pipeline of molecules with the greatest patient impact. Cartography’s lead program in preclinical development, CB21, is a T-cell engager being advanced for colorectal cancer (CRC). To learn more about Cartography and our mission to treat every patient with cancer, visit cartography.bio and follow us on LinkedIn and X @cartographybio.

According to the latest monitoring data, at least 19 pharmaceutical companies globally announced layoffs or business streamlining plans in November. The impact on multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in China has been particularly significant, with Johnson & Johnson and Merck implementing layoffs in the country. Johnson & Johnson's layoffs in China reached 2,000 people, approximately 20% of its total workforce, mainly affecting the surgical division. The layoffs were primarily due to declining company performance, especially in its ultrasound knife business, which saw its market share plunge from 95% to less than 30%. Since the second quarter of this year, Johnson & Johnson has also undergone business adjustments, with several senior executives, including the president of China, Song Weiqun, leaving the company. Merck also conducted staff reductions in its China division, although the exact number of layoffs has not been specified, primarily affecting the diabetes department. Due to the impact of centralized procurement policies, Merck's diabetes drug business has suffered significantly, forcing the company to take measures to drastically reduce costs. In recent years, centralized procurement policies have driven down drug prices, leading to significant profit reductions for pharmaceutical companies, which have had to scale back or sell their operations in China in response. For example, Pfizer sold its PCV13 vaccine business and conducted extensive layoffs. In this context, other pharmaceutical companies have also announced restructuring plans. Sana Biotechnology is shifting its research focus from cancer to autoimmune diseases and has undergone strategic restructuring, though it has not disclosed the number of layoffs. Viracta Therapeutics, focusing on precision oncology, announced approximately 42% layoffs to concentrate resources on its Nana-val development project. Aurinia laid off 45% of its workforce due to an inability to find a buyer, aiming to maintain cash flow. A gene sequencing company announced a 40% reduction in staff and the termination of all therapeutic projects due to declining business and cash flow issues. Marinus Pharmaceuticals announced a 45% reduction in staff following the failure of its core drug in Phase III clinical trials. Adaptimmune stated it would lay off 33% of its workforce in Q1 2025, aiming to save $300 million over the next four years and achieve break-even by 2027. Additionally, companies such as Gilead, Sensei Biotherapeutics, Sonata, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Alector, Medigene, Novartis, and Kronos Bio have also announced layoffs or restructuring plans to respond to the current challenges in the pharmaceutical industry. These measures reflect the strategies adopted by the pharmaceutical industry in the face of market changes and policy adjustments.

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. '