Adaptimmune, which develops cell therapies to help the body fight cancer, said that the deal could net $350m (£209m) over seven years, excluding royalties. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has struck a multimillion dollar deal with a British biotech firm to develop cutting-edge cancer treatments, after a new flurry of activity in the pharmaceutical sector. The Oxford-based firm, which develops cell therapies that help the body fight cancer, said trials in the US had shown encouraging results, while it was also poised to begin trials in Europe.
GSK’s tie-up with Adaptimmune comes less than six weeks after GSK agreed to sell its existing oncology products to Novartis and as AstraZeneca announced promising results from early-stage trials of two ovarian cancer drugs. When used in combination, olaparib and cediranib have been shown to stop the growth of tumours in women with the disease, AstraZeneca told investors at an oncology conference in Chicago at the weekend.
The drugs are among a number of promising treatments in the pipeline and the work with Adaptimmune will involve re-engineering patients’ white blood cells to improve the body’s ability to fight tumours. This new deal between the two companies will put GSK back in the race for a new generation of oncology treatments and will hopefully aid the continuing battle against all forms of cancer.
