On April 9, 2026 Cartography Biosciences, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing a differentiated pipeline of antibody-based cancer therapies, reported that Gilead Sciences, Inc. has exercised the first of its options to exclusively license a novel oncology target discovered and validated through Cartography’s proprietary ATLAS and SUMMIT platforms arising out of the parties’ collaboration.
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The option exercise represents a key milestone in the companies’ multi-year strategic collaboration to discover and develop therapies against novel tumor-selective targets and target pairs in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and the most common form of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adenocarcinoma.
"This milestone demonstrates the power of our ATLAS and SUMMIT platforms and their ability to systematically identify and validate high-value, tumor-selective targets," said Kevin Parker, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Cartography Biosciences. "Gilead’s decision to advance this program highlights the strength of our discovery engine and the potential to expand the landscape of actionable targets in solid tumors. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and progressing additional programs toward the clinic."
Under the terms of the agreement, Gilead will assume responsibility for further research, development, and commercialization of programs directed to the optioned target. Cartography will receive an option exercise fee, as well as potential future development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments and royalties on product sales.
"Gilead’s exercise of this first option is a meaningful step in our collaboration and reflects the strength of the targets emerging from our platform," said Chester Wong, SVP, Head of Business Development at Cartography Biosciences. "We are excited about the continued momentum of the collaboration and the opportunity to advance additional programs together."
The collaboration leverages Cartography’s ATLAS and SUMMIT platforms, which translate insights from proprietary single-cell datasets into cell-specific therapies. Cartography’s computational biology and target validation platforms identify tumor antigens and antigen combinations with high specificity that are designed to address a central challenge in oncology—identifying targets that enable potent anti-tumor activity while minimizing off-tumor toxicity.
Cartography continues to apply its platforms to generate a pipeline of novel targets and target pairs across solid tumors, supporting both partnered programs and its growing, wholly owned portfolio, including its lead clinical program, CBI-1214, a T-cell engager currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 trial for colorectal cancer.
Cartography will continue discovery and validation activities under the collaboration, with Gilead retaining option rights to additional targets emerging from the platform.
(Press release, Cartography Biosciences, APR 9, 2026, View Source [SID1234664264])