On January 10, 2022 Arsenal Biosciences, Inc., a privately held programmable cell therapy company engineering advanced CAR T therapies for solid tumors, reported that Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) has exercised an option to initiate a new program, expanding its strategic collaboration with ArsenalBio to discover and advance next-generation T cell therapies for the treatment of solid tumors (Press release, Arsenal Bio, JAN 10, 2022, View Source [SID1234598534]).
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"The decision by Bristol Myers Squibb to expand our collaboration and add another program is a testament to the strength of our partnership and the promise of ArsenalBio’s proprietary technology," said Ken Drazan, M.D., Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ArsenalBio. "We look forward to continuing this fruitful relationship and working together to advance next-generation T cell therapies so we can ultimately achieve our mission – help more patients defeat cancer."
Under the collaboration, ArsenalBio is discovering and building preclinical candidates against multiple targets, and Bristol Myers Squibb has the option to obtain an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize preclinical candidates. Through the terms of the agreement, Bristol Myers Squibb has exercised an Expansion Option to initiate a new program, triggering an additional undisclosed financial milestone payment to ArsenalBio. Following exercise of a subsequent License Option, Bristol Myers Squibb is solely responsible for developing and commercializing the licensed candidates. ArsenalBio will remain eligible to receive additional payments associated with collaboration expansion, regulatory and sales milestones, as well as potential royalties on sales of approved products.
"We are pleased to continue our partnership with ArsenalBio as we work to advance the next generation of cancer therapies leveraging their unique therapeutic platform," said Teri Foy, Senior Vice President, Research and Early Development Immuno-Oncology and Cell Therapy, Bristol Myers Squibb. "Unlocking the promise of cell therapy with application to solid tumors is a key aspect of our R&D strategy at BMS as we strive to help more patients across a broad range of cancers."
Through the multi-year collaboration, ArsenalBio continues to deploy its full stack of synthetic biology compositions to build programmable cell therapy product candidates based on its PrimeR logic gates, CARchitecture chimeric antigen receptor libraries, multi-target gene expression controls, and CITE mediated nonviral manufacturing. Combined, these integrated circuit-modified T cells offer the promise of significantly improved outcomes for patients.