6 April 2018 - - New York, New York-based biopharmaceutical and healthcare products specialist Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and San Francisco, California-based biotechnology company Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. have entered into an asset contribution agreement for Pfizer's portfolio of assets related to allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, an investigational immune cell therapy approach to treating cancer, the companies said.
Pfizer will continue to participate financially in the development of the CAR T portfolio through a 25% ownership stake in Allogene.
Separately, Pfizer continues to have an 8% ownership stake in Cellectis through an equity agreement entered into in 2014.
Allogene will receive from Pfizer the rights to 16 preclinical CAR T assets licensed from Cellectis and Servier and one clinical asset licensed from Servier, UCART19, an allogeneic CAR T therapy that is being developed for treatment of CD19-expressing hematological malignancies.
Allogene, a Two River portfolio company, is developing allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy directed at blood cancers and solid tumors.
Allogeneic CAR T therapies are engineered from cells of healthy donors and stored for "off-the-shelf" use in patients, which eliminates the need to create personalised therapy from a patient's own cells, simplifies manufacturing, and reduces the time patients must wait for CAR T treatment.
Pfizer discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells healthcare products worldwide. Its global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as consumer health care products.
The company collaborates with health care providers, governments, and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world.