Precision BioSciences, Inc.
DTIL
announced that it has entered into an exclusive license agreement with New York-based
Tiziana Life Sciences plc
TLSA
to develop the latter’s fully human anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (“mAb”), foralumab, in conjunction with allogeneic CAR T candidates, for the treatment of cancer.
Shares of Precision were up 3.4% on Thursday following the announcement of the news. The stock has rallied 69.7% so far this year compared with the
industry
’s increase of 2%.
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Per the agreement, Precision will obtain an exclusive license to evaluate foralumab as a lymphodepletion agent combined with its allogeneic CAR T therapeutics for cancer treatment. The company will lead the development, commercialization and bare costs related to foralumab. Tiziana will be entitled to receive an upfront payment, milestone payments as well royalties on net sales for foralumab, if approved.
With this partnership, the companies are looking to explore the potential of foralumab as an agent to induce tolerance of allogeneic CAR T cells and enhance the clinical outcome of CAR T cell therapy. Financial terms of the deal have been kept under the wraps.
We remind investors that Precision has developed CAR T candidates using its proprietary ARCUS genome-editing platform. The company is developing its lead allogenic candidate, PBCAR0191, in a phase I/IIa study as a potential treatment for relapsed/refractory (R/R) non-Hodgkin lymphoma (“NHL”), R/R B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (“ALL”) or RR B-ALL.
The company is evaluating two other CAR T therapy candidates — PBCAR20A and PBCAR269A — in separate phase I/IIa studies. While PBCAR20A is targeting R/R chronic lymphocytic leukemia or R/R small lymphocytic lymphoma patients, PBCAR269A is being developed for treating R/R multiple myeloma.
Precision is also evaluating its next-generation stealth-cell CD19 product candidate, PBCAR19B, in a phase I study for treating patients with R/R NHL.
Successful development all of these candidates remains in key focus for the company.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Precision currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the biotech sector include
Spero Therapeutics, Inc.
SPRO
and
Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
CRVS
,
both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
Spero Therapeutics’ loss per share estimates have narrowed 8.2% for 2021 and 10.6% for 2022, over the past 60 days.
Corvus Pharmaceuticals’ loss per share estimates have narrowed 24.4% for 2021 and 21.4% for 2022, over the past 60 days.
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