Dive Brief:
- Takeda and GammaDelta Therapeutics will collaborate to develop a novel T-cell platform, based on properties of gamma delta T-cells from human tissue.
- The companies will use the novel T-cell platform to discover and rapidly develop new immunotherapies for cancers and auto-inflammatory diseases.
- With the collaboration, Takeda and GammaDelta hope to take a leadership position in the development of tissue resident gamma delta T-cells for clinical uses.
Dive Insight:
Takeda Pharmaceutical and GammaDelta Therapeutics have formed a strategic collaboration to more rapidly develop GammaDelta Therapeutics’ novel pioneering tissue resident delta T-cell platform for treatment of cancers and auto-inflammatory diseases. The novel T-cell platform is based on the unique properties of gamma delta T-cells from human tissue, and the companies hope to use this platform to discover and advance immunotherapies.
Takeda, along with Abingworth, will commit up to $100 million in funding to accelerate research and development of the T-cell platform—an effort that will be led by GammaDelta. Under the agreement, the funding will include an equity investment, an option fee and research and development funding, as well as giving Takeda the exclusive right to purchase GammaDelta.
The collaboration will enable GammaDelta to bring treatments created with their gamma delta T-cell platform more quickly into the clinic, and could cement Takeda’s position as a leader in oncology and gastroenterology therapies.
GammaDelta was founded in 2016 by Abingworth, based on research undertaken by Professor Adrian Hayday and Oliver Nussbaumer at King’s College London and the Francis Crick Institute. Hayday and Nussbaumer performed pioneering research on the use of gamma delta T-cells for use in treatments of cancer and autoimmune diseases.
