Teneobio and Poseida Expand Their Partnership to Develop UniDabs™ for Advanced CAR-T Therapies
3D Illustration of T Cells Attacking Cancer Cells
MENLO PARK, Calif. and SAN DIEGO, Aug. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Teneobio, Inc., a next generation multi-specific antibody therapeutics company, and Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. , a San Diego-based clinical-stage company translating best-in-class gene engineering technologies into lifesaving cell therapies, announced today a new research collaboration and licensing agreement to develop novel CAR-T therapies using Teneobio’s heavy chain only domain antibodies (UniDabs™). Poseida will apply UniDab binders, which demonstrate significant advantages over traditional single chain variable antibody fragment (scFv) binders, to the development of its next generation CAR-T therapies.
The new collaboration follows a commercial license agreement between the companies that was announced in May of 2017. Under the terms of the new agreement, Teneobio will generate multiple UniDab product candidates using its proprietary UniRat® transgenic human antibody ‘heavy-chain only’ rodent platform and its state-of-the-art sequence-based discovery engine, TeneoSeek. Poseida will have exclusive global licensing rights for the clinical development and commercialization of specific UniDabs for CAR-T therapies.
Teneobio Inc. will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive future research, development and regulatory milestone payments per UniDab candidate, with total potential earnings of over $250 million for CAR-T therapies developed by Poseida. Teneobio would also receive royalties on worldwide net sales of each CAR-T therapy.
“We are delighted to partner with Poseida and to help create the next generation of cell therapies,” said Roland Buelow, CEO of Teneobio. “Domain antibodies have been clinically validated as excellent targeting moieties in CAR-T cells. They confer robust in vivo specificity and efficacy. They are smaller in size, have greater humanicity, and superior developability relative to standard scFv’s. The use of UniDabs as binders in CAR-T products is predicted to result in a lack of tonic signaling and lower immunogenicity, thus solving some of the problems of the first-generation, scFv-based CAR-T therapies.”
Eric Ostertag, CEO of Poseida, noted, “Teneobio’s UniDab binders are an ideal match for Poseida’s novel and industry-leading CAR-T platform technologies. Poseida has demonstrated that UniDabs can be engineered to serve as binding molecules for our CAR-T therapeutics and oftentimes may function better than other binders for use in CAR-T products.”
“We are pleased to expand our existing partnership with Poseida, whose cutting-edge genetic engineering tools combined with our targeting UniDab candidates will enable the development of the next generation of superior CAR-T therapies to treat cancer. We believe that UniDabs provide differentiated advantages from other targeting moieties, and that their utility and reach will extend beyond antibody therapeutics to novel transformational cell therapy treatments,” added Omid Vafa, CBO of Teneobio.
About Poseida Therapeutics, Inc.
Poseida Therapeutics is translating best-in-class gene engineering technologies into lifesaving cell therapies. The company is developing CAR-T cell immunotherapies for multiple myeloma, prostate and other cancer types, as well as gene therapies for orphan diseases. P-BCMA-101 is Poseida’s lead CAR-T therapy currently in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Poseida has assembled a suite of industry-leading gene engineering technologies, including the piggyBac™ DNA Modification System, TAL-CLOVER™ and Cas-CLOVER™ site-specific nucleases, and Footprint-Free™ Gene Editing (FFGE). For more information, visit www.poseida.com.
About Teneobio, Inc.
Teneobio, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing a new class of biologics, Human Heavy-Chain Antibodies (UniAbs™), for the treatments of cancer, autoimmunity, and infectious diseases. Teneobio’s discovery platform, TeneoSeek, comprises genetically engineered animals (UniRat® and OmniFlic®), next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics and high-throughput vector assembly technologies. TeneoSeek rapidly identifies large numbers of unique binding molecules specific for therapeutic targets of interest. Versatile antibody variable domains (UniDabs™) derived from UniAbs™ can be assembled into multi-specific and multivalent therapeutic proteins, surpassing limitations of conventional antibody therapeutics. Teneobio’s “plug-and-play” T-cell engaging platform includes a diverse set of anti-CD3 antibodies for therapeutics with optimal efficacy and reduced toxicity. Teneobio plans to file its first IND on its lead program, TNB-383B (anti-BCMAxCD3) for the treatment of multiple myeloma in Q4 of 2018. The company has received funding from institutional investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures. For more information, visit www.teneobio.com
Company Inquiries for Teneobio, Inc.
Omid Vafa, Chief Business Officer
ovafa@teneobio.com
Company Inquiries for Poseida Therapeutics:
Jason Spark
Canale Communications
jason@canalecomm.com