Celgene continues dealmaking via agreements with Kyn Therapeutics, Obsidian Therapeutics

Celgene entered a pair of agreements focused on developing immuno-oncology and cell therapies with Kyn Therapeutics and Obsidian Therapeutics, the companies announced Friday. Robert Hershberg, head of business development and global alliances for Celgene, noted that the deals signal "our continued commitment to work with partners to develop innovative treatments," having agreed earlier this year to be bought by Bristol-Myers Squibb for around $74 billion.  

Under the first agreement, Celgene will make an upfront cash payment of $80 million to Kyn, whilst also making an equity investment in the company. In return, Celgene will gain exclusive options to globally license Kyn's kynurenine-degrading enzyme and aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonist programmes.

For both programmes, Kyn will be responsible for R&D activities through Phase Ib, after which Celgene can exercise an option to lead and fund global development and commercialisation of the licensed programmes. If successful, Kyn will be eligible for clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones payments, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales of products developed under the collaboration.  

Commenting on the impact of Bristol-Myers Squibb's planned takeover of Celgene, a Kyn spokesperson said the drugmaker "must presume that existing contracts will be honoured" after the acquisition is completed. Bristol-Myers Squibb "wasn't part of our discussion," noted Kyn chief executive Mark Manfredi, explaining that its deal with Celgene was being negotiated in December through the end of the year. Manfredi added that he is not aware of any overlaps between the pipelines of Kyn and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Meanwhile, as part of the second deal, Celgene and Obsidian aim to develop regulated cell therapies that utilise the latter's destabilising domain (DD) technology. Specifically, the collaboration is based on Obsidian's DD technology for the controlled expression of two immunomodulatory factors, IL12 and CD40L, which have the potential to augment the power of adoptive cell therapies. Under the agreed terms, Celgene will receive an exclusive option to in-license global rights for cell therapy candidates incorporating DD-regulated IL12 or CD40L for use in cancer indications. Celgene will pay Obsidian an undisclosed upfront payment and equity investment, in addition to potential future milestones and royalties.  

"Obsidian's technology has the potential to unlock the activity of cell therapy in a number of new settings, particularly against solid tumour malignancies, and this is a prime example of the new technologies that we see enabling broader applications for CAR-T and cell therapies for the treatment of cancer," Hershberg commented.

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