Adaptimmune is rolling out its T cell therapy Tecelra for synovial sarcoma, recording $1.2 million in sales since its approval in August 2024. Nevertheless, it is pausing development of two oncology assets to save money.
Despite the “increasing” momentum of its engineered T cell therapy Tecelra, Adaptimmune on Thursday expressed concern about its ability to continue as a business.
“There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue,” the biotech wrote in a news release, adding that it will continue to “implement cost reduction measures.” In particular, Adaptimmune revealed on a Thursday investor call that it would pause work on two early-stage assets: the PRAME-targeting ADP-600 being developed for solid tumors and the anti-CD70 molecule ADP-520 for hematological malignancies. Both programs were undergoing IND-enabling studies.
The company’s cash crunch comes as it works on launching Tecelra, the first FDA-approved engineered T cell therapy for solid tumors. The therapy won the FDA’s blessing in August 2024, allowing its use in patients with unresectable or metastatic synovial sarcoma. Adaptimmune has so far prepared 10 patients for treatment across 20 activated authorized treatment centers, according to its Thursday release.
Adaptimmune is also currently exploring “all strategic options” for its business and all of its programs, for which it has enlisted TD Cowen’s help, CEO Adrian Rawcliffe said on the investor call. “This includes potential partnerships or collaborations, strategic combinations, various financial transactions and multiple pipeline monetization opportunities,” he added.
Adaptimmune had just under $147 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities at the end of 2024, according to its Q4 and full-year business update. The biotech expects to hit profitability in 2027, Rawcliffe said on the call.
With two patients invoiced and no reimbursement denials to date, Tecelra has so far made $1.2 million for Adaptimmune. The company expects to have its full network of 30 treatment centers online by the end of 2025. “We feel very confident that the consensus analyst forecast of approximately $25 million of sales in 2025 is very achievable,” Rawcliffe said on the call.
Meanwhile, Adaptimmune is also building toward its next potential launch, the TCR T cell therapy lete-cel, which in November 2024 cleared the mid-stage IGNYTE-ESO trial. In patients with advanced or metastatic synovial sarcoma or myxoid/round cell liposarcoma, lete-cel elicited a 42% response rate that lasted for a median of 12.2 months in the overall study population.
Adaptimmune is working on filing a Biologics License Application for lete-cel later this year and expects the therapy to hit the market in 2027, Rawcliffe said on Thursday, forecasting peak sales of around $400 million. “We estimate that lete-cel will eventually make up over 60% of our combined sarcoma franchise revenue,” he added.
