On August 5, 2020 Adicet Bio, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, reported that it has received a $10 million milestone payment from Regeneron associated with ADI-002 meeting key preclinical development goals, in accordance with the terms of its strategic collaboration with Regeneron (Press release, Adicet Bio, AUG 5, 2020, View Source [SID1234563214]). ADI-002 is the first of Adicet Bio’s allogeneic off-the-shelf γδ T cell product candidates to specifically target solid tumors. ADI-002 is being developed and engineered by Adicet to express a GPC3-targeting chimeric antigen receptor and IL-15.
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"GPC3 is an important target which is differentially expressed on a broad range of solid tumors, with limited expression levels on normal tissues. We believe that the intrinsic and engineered properties of Adicet’s γδ T cells make them particularly well-suited to effectively treat solid tumors and preclinical research with ADI-002 indicates dose dependent anti-tumor activity that warrants additional study," said Stewart Abbot, Ph.D., Chief Operating and Scientific Officer at Adicet Bio, Inc. "We intend to initiate a Phase 1 study in 2021 for solid tumors associated with high GPC3 expression such as hepatocellular carcinoma, the most prevalent form of liver cancer."
About the Collaboration with Regeneron
In August 2016, Adicet entered into a collaboration and licensing agreement with Regeneron to develop next-generation engineered immune-cell therapeutics using Adicet’s gamma delta T cell allogeneic platform technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Regeneron and Adicet will collaborate to identify and validate appropriate targets and work together to develop a pipeline of engineered immune-cell therapeutics for the selected targets. Regeneron has the option to obtain development and commercial rights for a certain number of the product candidates, and Adicet has an option to participate in the development and commercialization on these potential products or is entitled to royalty payments by Regeneron. Immune-cell therapy product candidates developed and commercialized by Adicet under the agreement will be subject to payment of royalties to Regeneron. Regeneron will have the right to leverage targeting moieties generated by Adicet by its use of Regeneron’s proprietary mice to develop and commercialize non-immune-cell therapy products.
About the Proposed Merger with resTORbio
On April 29, 2020, Adicet and resTORbio, Inc. (Nasdaq: TORC) announced that they entered into a definitive merger agreement to create a combined publicly-traded biotechnology company focused on the development of Adicet’s off-the-shelf allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapies for oncology and other indications. The merger is expected to close in the second half of 2020, subject to approvals of each company’s stockholders and other customary closing conditions. Upon completion of the merger, the combined company will operate under the name Adicet Bio and is expected to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol ACET.