Legend Biotech Announces Exclusive, Global License Agreement for Certain CAR-T Therapies Targeting DLL3
November 13 2023 - 7:30AM
Business Wire
- The deal with Novartis seeks to advance Legend Biotech’s
autologous CAR-T cell therapy candidate, LB2102, and other
potential CAR-T cell therapies targeting Delta-like ligand protein
3 (DLL3), using the Novartis next-generation T-Charge™ CAR-T cell
therapy platform
- Legend Biotech will receive a $100M upfront payment and will be
eligible to receive potential milestone payments plus tiered
royalties on net sales
Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ: LEGN) (Legend Biotech), a
global biotechnology company developing, manufacturing and
commercializing novel therapies to treat life-threatening diseases,
announced today that Legend Biotech Ireland Limited, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Legend Biotech, has entered into an exclusive, global
license agreement (License Agreement) with Novartis Pharma AG for
certain Legend Biotech chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T)
cell therapies targeting DLL3, including its autologous CAR-T cell
therapy candidate, LB2102 (NCT05680922).1 The License Agreement
grants Novartis the exclusive worldwide rights to develop,
manufacture and commercialize these cell therapies, and Novartis
may apply its T-Charge™ platform to their manufacture.
Legend Biotech is initiating clinical development of LB2102 for
the treatment of extensive stage small cell lung cancer and large
cell neuroendocrine carcinoma after the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) cleared its investigational new drug
application in 2022. In 2023, the FDA granted the product candidate
Orphan Drug Designation, a status conferred to drugs or biologics
that are intended to treat, diagnose or prevent rare diseases and
conditions.2,3
The Novartis T-Charge platform is a next-generation CAR-T cell
therapy manufacturing platform designed to preserve T cell stemness
and facilitate CAR-T cell expansion primarily in vivo. The T-Charge
platform is designed to reduce the need for extensive culture time
outside the body and results in T cells with greater proliferative
potential, as well as fewer exhausted T cells.4 LB2102 would be the
first application of T-Charge by Novartis to a cell therapy
candidate targeting solid tumors.
“We believe LB2102 has an innovative CAR design and armor
mechanism that increases its anti-tumor activity. The preclinical
evidence shows that an autologous CAR-T could be a differentiated
treatment option for patients with small cell lung cancer,” said
Guowei Fang, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Business
Development of Legend Biotech. “We are excited that a major
pharmaceutical company with deep roots in oncology and cell therapy
has chosen to further this product candidate in the clinic. We are
delighted that a combination of our unique candidate design in
LB2102 with the T-Charge platform may potentially offer
transformative benefits to small cell lung cancer patients.”
Under the License Agreement, Legend Biotech will conduct a Phase
1 clinical trial for LB2102 in the U.S. Novartis will conduct all
other development for the licensed products.
Under the terms of the License Agreement, Legend Biotech will
receive a $100 million upfront payment and will be eligible to
receive up to $1.01 billion in clinical, regulatory and commercial
milestone payments and tiered royalties. Closing of the transaction
is subject to the parties’ receipt of any necessary consents or
approvals, including the expiration or termination of the waiting
period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of
1976.
About Legend Biotech
Legend Biotech is a global biotechnology company dedicated to
treating, and one day curing, life-threatening diseases.
Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, we are developing advanced
cell therapies across a diverse array of technology platforms,
including autologous and allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor
T-cell, gamma-delta T cell and natural killer (NK) cell-based
immunotherapy. From our three R&D sites around the world, we
apply these innovative technologies to pursue the discovery of
cutting-edge therapeutics for patients worldwide.
Learn more at https://legendbiotech.com/ and follow us on
Twitter and LinkedIn.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements in this press release about future expectations,
plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding
matters that are not historical facts, constitute “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited
to, statements relating to the anticipated completion of the
proposed transaction with Novartis, potential payments that may be
received by Legend Biotech under the License Agreement, including
for potential milestones and royalties, the ability of Legend
Biotech and Novartis to develop licensed product from clinic to
market, the potential benefits of licensed product, the potential
benefits from synergies of licensed product with the T-Charge™
platform, and Legend Biotech’s and Novartis’ rights and obligations
under the License Agreement. The forward-looking statements
contained herein are based upon Legend Biotech’s current
expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or
may prove to be incorrect. These forward-looking statements are
neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to a variety of
risks and uncertainties, including that the proposed transaction
will be completed in a timely manner or at all, the possibility
that certain closing conditions to the proposed transaction will
not be satisfied; uncertainty as to whether the anticipated
benefits and opportunities of the proposed transaction may not be
realized or make take longer to realize or may cost more than
expected; risks of unexpected hurdles, costs or delays; challenges
in technology transfer and cell therapy manufacturing, particularly
scaling up to commercial supply volumes, can limit the benefits of
the transaction; challenges inherent in new product candidate
development, including the uncertainty of clinical success or
receipt of unexpected clinical data; unexpected regulatory actions
or delays; challenges associated with collaborating with third
parties, including intellectual property, operational, financial
and other risks; uncertainty of commercial success for new
products; the ability of Legend Biotech and/or Novartis to
successfully execute their strategic plans; government regulation
generally; unexpected delays as a result of actions undertaken, or
failures to act, by third parties; uncertainties arising from
challenges to the Legend Biotech’s patent or other proprietary
intellectual property protection, including the uncertainties
involved in the U.S. litigation process; competition in general;
government, industry, and general public pricing and other
political pressures; the duration and severity of the COVID-19
pandemic and governmental and regulatory measures implemented in
response to the evolving situation; as well as the other factors
discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of Legend Biotech’s Annual
Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on March 30, 2023. Should one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove
incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described
in this press release as anticipated, believed, estimated or
expected. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press
release speak only as of the date of this press release. Legend
Biotech specifically disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
1 ClinicalTrials.gov. DLL3-Directed Chimeric Antigen Receptor
T-cells in Subjects With Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer.
Available at:
https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05680922. Last
accessed Nov 2023. 2 Legend Biotech Announces FDA Clearance of IND
Application for LB2102 in Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer.
Available at: Legend Biotech Announces FDA Clearance of IND
Application for LB2102 in Extensive Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer –
Legend Biotech. Accessed Nov 2023. 3 FDA.gov. Designating an Orphan
Product: Drugs and Biological Products. Available at: Designating
an Orphan Product: Drugs and Biological Products | FDA. Last
accessed Nov 2023. 4 Cancer Discov. 2023 Sep 6;13(9):1982-1997.
doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-22-1276. A Novel Autologous CAR-T
Therapy, YTB323, with Preserved T-cell Stemness Shows Enhanced CAR
T-cell Efficacy in Preclinical and Early Clinical Development
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231113142787/en/
Press: Tina Carter, Corporate Communications Lead, Legend
Biotech tina.carter@legendbiotech.com (908) 331-5025
Investor: Jessie Yeung, Head of Investor Relations and
Public Relations, Legend Biotech jessie.yeung@legendbiotech.com
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