Roche tapped into the R&D capabilities of two Boston-area biotechs in December in an effort to expand its drug discovery efforts in cancer immunotherapy. The first, a deal potentially worth $500 million with SQZ Biotech, will use SQZ's CellSqueeze technology to insert proteins into a patient's B cells which, when reintroduced into the patient, will help activate killer T cells to attack a tumor. SQZ does this by using microfluidics to gently squeeze the B cells as they travel through a narrow tube—creating temporary holes in the plasma membrane through which it can deliver large molecules. It is the first autologous cell therapy approach to cancer immunotherapy disclosed by Basel-based Roche, whose PD-L1 targeting antibody atezolizumab from the Roche unit Genentech in South San Francisco, California, is in phase 3 testing in several major solid tumor types.

A day later, Roche announced it was teaming up with Pieris Pharmaceuticals, whose Anticalin drug delivery platform is predicated on the use of engineered lipocalins, which are low-molecular-weight proteins typically found in blood plasma and other body fluids that naturally bind, store and transport a wide spectrum of molecules. The hookup with Roche—Pieris' first in cancer immunotherapy—is potentially worth more than $400 million. The biotech, founded in 2001 to develop Anticalin technology, has yet to advance a compound into late-stage trials. The deal calls for Pieris to discover, characterize and optimize Anticalin-based drug candidates against an undisclosed target, with Roche taking on responsibility for clinical development. Pieris retains rights to an existing immune-oncology program under which it is developing bispecific Anticalin-based protein therapeutics against a variety of tumors and immunomodulatory targets, including its lead compound, a CD37-HER2 bispecific.