Immatics and Adaptimmune show that T-cell receptor deals aren't dead

Two deals in as many days featuring engineered T-cell receptors (TCRs) show that interest in this approach is alive and well, with companies able to command respectable sums for a technology that has yet to deliver any notable clinical breakthroughs. Immatics announced today that Celgene had handed over $75m up front for options over three research projects; the targets were not disclosed, though solid tumours are the focus. Celgene's cell therapy focus, via its Juno acquisition, has mainly been on CAR-T, though it has one TCR project in the clinic; Bristol-Myers Squibb has said that a key reason why it wanted to buy Celgene was to gain a foothold in cell therapy, and the big pharma group has presumably signed off on this transaction, though Immatics declined to confirm that. Yesterday, the UK’s Adaptimmune unveiled a collaboration with Noile-Immune Biotech to develop TCRs that co-express IL-7 and CCL19, also aiming at solid tumours; the deal is worth up to $312m to the Japanese company. Adaptimmune is arguably one of the leaders in this field, but its work has been blighted by patient deaths; perhaps this deal is an acknowledgement that its technology needs a tweak.