Oxford BioMedica in Second CART Deal with Novartis

UK biopharma Oxford BioMedica has signed another major deal with Swiss drugmaker Novartis to supply lentiviral vectors used to create novel cell therapeutics, including CTL019 (tisagenlecleucel) and other undisclosed Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CART) products.

The agreement builds on the collaboration announced between the two organizations in October 2014 and is in anticipation of the commercialization of CTL019 later this year. In March, Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted priority review for CTL019 in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Under the terms of this latest deal, Oxford BioMedica could potentially receive more than $100 million from Novartis over the next three years. The sum includes an upfront payment of $10 million, various performance incentives as well as bioprocessing and development services. In addition, the Oxford-based company will also receive undisclosed royalties on potential future sales of Novartis’ CART products.

The supply agreement will initially run for three years but could be extended to five years if both parties agree.

John Dawson, CEO of Oxford BioMedica, said the deal demonstrates the value of its LentiVector platform and will support the group’s continued growth over the next three years.

CAR-T cell immunotherapy is a novel treatment that is manufactured for each individual patient using their own T cells. CTL019 was first developed by the University of Pennsylvania, which entered into a global collaboration with Novartis in 2012 to further research, develop and commercialize CAR-T cell therapies for the investigational treatment of cancers. Novartis holds the worldwide rights to CARs developed through the collaboration for all cancer indications.