Takeda has added another piece to the patchwork of bispecific antibody capabilities it has sewn together over the past 18 months, tapping F-star Therapeutics to support an immuno-oncology program.
The deal sees the Japanese pharma pay an upfront fee of $1 million and commit up to $40 million in development and commercial milestones for the right to use two F-star platforms to develop a bispecific antibody against an undisclosed immuno-oncology target. Takeda will handle all research, development and commercial work, with F-star’s role limited to the granting of the exclusive, royalty-bearing license.
Kathy Seidl, Ph.D., head of the oncology drug discovery unit at Takeda, set out the thinking behind the deal and the desire to use F-star's Fcab technology that enables the creation of two additional distinct antigen binding sites.
“We have an opportunity at Takeda to lead the discovery and development of novel cancer therapies that leverage the power of the innate immune system. We are eager to build on our relationship with F-star and apply their Fcab technology to diversify and accelerate our gamma delta T-cell engager portfolio in support of our collective pursuit of life-transforming medicines for patients with cancer,” Seidl said in a statement.
Takeda stepped up its interest in gamma delta T-cell engagers at the start of the year when it took up its option to buy Adaptate Biotherapeutics. The buyout gave Takeda an antibody-based gamma delta T-cell engager platform and early-stage prospects. Last year, Takeda bought GammaDelta Therapeutics, the gamma delta cell therapy firm that spawned Adaptate, and T-cell engager player Maverick Therapeutics.
The F-star technologies, which landed the biotech a deal with Johnson & Johnson last October, empower researchers to make substitutions in the Fc region of a natural antibody. The substitutions create the two extra binding sites and result in building blocks ready for insertion into tetravalent bispecific antibodies.
F-star has landed deals with a clutch of leading pharma companies on the strength of the technologies but has seen investor enthusiasm in its own pipeline collapse. Having seen its stock price top $70 late in 2017, F-star recently accepted a $7.12 per share buyout bid from a subsidiary of Sino Biopharmaceutical.