Bristol Bets $850M on Janux’s Tumor-Activated Drugs

 

The partnership will allow BMS to advance a T cell–based therapy that is only activated once in the vicinity of a tumor.

Bristol Myers Squibb is linking up with San Diego’s Janux Therapeutics to advance a novel cancer medicine that could sidestep the toxicities commonly found with classic T cell engagers in a deal that could add up to $850 million.

BMS is handing over $50 million to Janux in upfront and near-term payments, and has promised up to approximately $800 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones, according to a Thursday release. Janux will also be entitled to tiered royalties on global product sales from the partnership.

For its investment, BMS will be able to co-develop an investigational therapy that targets an undisclosed solid tumor antigen “expressed across several human cancer types,” according to the release. The partners did not disclose what particular disease target or specific indications they are looking at.

At the core of Thursday’s partnership is Janux’s proprietary platform that produces tumor-activated therapies, with the aim of reducing systemic complications like cytokine storm that can occur with T cell engagers, according to the biotech’s website.

Janux’s solution to those complications is to use a certain compound that blocks off the site on the drug that bind to CD3 or CD28 proteins on T cells. This mask, as the biotech calls it, is broken down by specific enzymes found near and around the tumor, in turn activating its therapeutic activity.

Janux will be responsible for ushering the candidate through preclinical testing and for filing an application to launch clinical development. BMS will take charge thereafter, though Janux will support BMS through Phase I development.

In recent months, BMS has been a prolific investor in cancer. Last month, for instance, the pharma put more than $1 billion on the line to partner with Harbour BioMed, gaining access to the Chinese biotech’s mice platform that can produce biologics “with enhanced therapeutic potential,” CEO Jingsong Wang said at the time. The partners will leverage this approach for cancer targets, though they did not provide specific details.

BMS has also recently been pumping money into cell therapies, a notable move given that many of its peers have been turning their backs on the modality. In October, the pharma scooped up Orbital Therapeutics for $1.5 billion, gaining access to its RNA therapeutics that can reprogram immune cells. Its lead asset can make use of a patient’s own cells to produce CAR constructs targeting the CD19 antigen and is being studied as a therapy for autoimmune conditions.

https://www.biospace.com/deals/bms-bets-850m-on-januxs-tumor-activated-drugs-deepening-cancer-investments