Gene editing biotech Precision BioSciences is looking to rebound after a mixed year spurred enhanced partnership calls on its lead off-the-shelf CAR-T, azer cel. Now, a suitor has swooped in for the rights.
TG Therapeutics is nabbing development rights to azer cel in autoimmune diseases and other indications outside oncology, paying Precision $10 million via a $7.5 million upfront stock buy now and another $2.5 million equity investment within a year. Precision also stands to make another $7.5 million in cash and stock buys upon completing certain near-term milestones, according to Tuesday's release. There’s also $288 million in biobucks up for grabs.
The fresh funds have helped push Precision’s cash runway into the first half of 2026, enough to reach phase 1 readouts from its hepatitis B virus and mitochondrial DNA programs. The company has indicated that dealmaking is far from over, with plans to shop other assets from its allogeneic CAR-T briefcase, including the PBCAR19B stealth cell and BCMA-targeting CAR-T assets. Precision previously announced that it had sold off azer cel's oncology rights to Imugene.
Precision CEO Michael Amoroso said in a release that the biotech chose TG as a partner because of the latter’s success in the multiple sclerosis space, hoping that momentum will manifest in positive readouts in other autoimmune diseases.
The acquisition bolsters a growing body of evidence that a primary focus of future cell therapy development will be in immunology and autoimmune diseases. As of late that hype has centered on lupus, with the likes of Novartis, AstraZeneca (through its recent acquisition of Gracell) and Nkarta all testing candidates.
Precision publicly disclosed advanced discussions were underway to hand off azer cel following a meeting with the FDA in July regarding further development of the treatment in patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma who relapsed following CAR-T therapy. Precision was hoping to get away with a single, non-randomized pivotal trial as the next step, though it was unclear at the time whether regulators were on board.
None of Precision’s gene editing candidates are in the clinic yet, though the hepatitis B program is in IND-enabling studies. The rest of the pipeline includes partnered candidates with Novartis, Lilly’s Prevail and Ecure.