Big Pharma, big CGT deals: Roche buying Poseida, Novartis buys Kate

The merger agreement will see Roche buy clinical-stage cell and gene therapy (CGT) firm Poseida for $9 per share, equating to roughly $1.5 billion.

Poseida, founded in 2014, focuses on allogeneic, or off-the-shelf, cell therapies. Its lead candidate P-BCMA-ALLO1 is an allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell targeting B cell maturation antigen, or BCMA, to treat relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. P-BCMA-ALLO1 is already in the pipeline of forthcoming owner Roche after the Swiss pharma giant paid $110 million in 2022 for the exclusive, worldwide license of the candidate.

“We have worked closely with Roche through our collaboration focused on hematologic malignancies, and we are excited to join Roche to work as colleagues together across our pipeline and future programs,” said Kristin Yarema, who took over the reins as CEO at Poseida at the start of the year.

“Roche's global capabilities in late-stage development and commercialization will enable patients worldwide to benefit from the transformative potential of allo- CAR-T."

The bulk of approved cell therapies are autologous – made using a patient’s own cells that are taken, reengineered, and reintroduced. Allogeneic cell therapies, meanwhile, use cells or tissues from donor individuals, which brings the advantage of relative ease when mass-producing such products and – theoretically – reducing the cost of goods, which remains a major issue in the uptake of autologous products. However, allogeneic treatments are still in their naissance due to the risk of rejection and immunosuppression.

“Poseida has demonstrated the unique ability of its proprietary non-viral technology platform to create allogeneic, TSCM-rich CAR-T therapies with the potential to improve clinical outcomes and expand access to this important class of medicines,” Yarema added. “Most recently, this was highlighted by the compelling interim clinical data for P-BCMA-ALLO1 in patients with multiple myeloma.”

Novartis and Kate

The news comes within days of fellow Swiss pharma giant Novartis acquiring San Diego, California-based adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy for an undisclosed amount, but one suspected to be as much as $1.1 billion.

The deal sees Novartis bag gene therapy candidates for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD), and myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). Alongside Kate’s DELIVER (Directed Evolution of AAV Capsid Leveraging In Vivo Expression of Transgene RNA) platform.

According to the firm, DELIVER integrates capsid and cargo technologies to transport payloads to chosen tissues, while possibly easing off-target effects. This method is said to increase the safety and efficacy of gene therapies, thus creating the possibility to treat neuromuscular diseases.

“This acquisition builds on our expertise and leadership in neuroscience drug discovery and brings to Novartis talent, expertise and capabilities that are highly complementary to our ongoing internal efforts,” said Robert Baloh, global head of Neuroscience Research at Novartis. “It reflects our commitment to addressing unmet medical needs in neuroscience and tackling the limitations of existing gene therapies for patients with inherited neuromuscular conditions.”