What happened
Shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics (ADAP 3.93%) were up as much as 9.7% early Tuesday after the clinical-stage biotech announced that it had reached an agreement with GSK (GSK -0.12%) to return the rights to Adaptimmune's PRAME and NY-ESO cell therapy programs. The stock is down more than 17% this year.
So what
Adaptimmune focuses on therapies to treat cancer in solid tumors through its SPEAR (for Specific Peptide Enhanced Affinity Receptor) T-cell platform. The company has four SPEAR T-cells in trials: MAGE-A10, MAGE-A4, AFP, and NY-ESO.
There were two important parts in the company's announcement. GSK, formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline, is paying Adaptimmune 30 million pounds (around $37 million) as part of the agreement, and Adaptimmune said it expects an Investigational New Drug Application with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this year for its PRAME targeted TCR T-cell therapy to treat solid tumors.
Now what
The cash will help Adaptimmune as it tries to launch its first therapy, afami-cel, for which it submitted a Biologics Licensing Application with the FDA late last year. Afami-cel has the potential to be the first marketed TCR T-cell therapy to treat a solid tumor.
Adaptimmune, as of the fourth quarter, reported it had $108 million in cash. In 2022, it said it had yearly revenue of $27.1 million, up from $6.1 million in 2021, mostly from its collaboration agreement with Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche.
The company lost $165.5 million in 2022, or $0.17 per share, compared to losses of $158.1 million and $0.17 per share in 2021.
