Amsterdam Neogene Therapeutics aquired by AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca announced an agreement to acquire Neogene Therapeutics Inc. (Neogene), a global clinical-stage biotechnology company spezialised in next-generation T-cell receptor therapies (TCR-Ts) that offer a novel cell therapy approach for targeting cancer. The acquisition delivers an initial payment of $200m on deal closing, and a further up to $120m in both contingent milestones-based and non-contingent consideration.
Neogene Therapeutics is developing both patient-specific and shared neoantigen TCR programmes to deliver such TCRs into a patient’s own T cells and redirect their antigen specificity. To overcome obstacles to the therapeutic efficacy of T-cell therapies due to immunosuppressive factors in the microenvironment of solid tumours, several programmes are being developed, but are still in preclinical stages or in the early stages of clinical investigation.
One of these programmes targets transforming growth factor beta (TGF-?). This immunosuppressive cytokine is frequently present in the tumour microenvironment of advanced metastatic solid cancers. TGF-? has been shown to limit the anti-tumour T-cell response by suppressing T-cell cytotoxicity, proliferation and cytokine production. Neogene Thx modifies the responsiveness of the patient’s T-cells by knocking out the TGF-? receptor and has been shown in animal studies that these modified T-cells are no longer inactivated by the cytokine and can therefore act as serial killers of tumour cells unaffected.
AstraZeneca will acquire all of the outstanding equity of Neogene for a total consideration of up to $320m, excluding cash and debt. This includes an initial payment of $200m on completion of the transaction and up to a further $120m in contingent milestone payments and non-contingent consideration. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Neogene will operate from both locations in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Santa Monica, USA, as before.
