With promising chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR–T cell) therapies from Novartis, Juno Therapeutics and Kite Pharma barrelling through the clinic, pharmaceutical companies are eyeing up access to alternative anticancer T-cell-reprogramming technologies. Merck Serono was the latest to back a contender, partnering with Intrexon in March. It follows Amgen, who partnered with Kite Pharma in January. Last year, Pfizer partnered with Cellectis, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) partnered with AdaptImmune (Nature Rev. Drug Discov. 13, 568–569; 2014). Intrexon, Cellectis and AdaptImmune have not yet advanced a CAR–T cell therapy into the clinic.

Under the terms of the Merck Serono–Intrexon tie up, Merck Serono gets to nominate two anticancer targets and Intrexon will then develop CAR–T cell treatments for investigational new drug (IND) application filings. Merck Serono will pay US$115 million upfront and up to $826 million in milestones for these products. Intrexon can explore other targets independently, but will grant Merck Serono opt-in rights during clinical development.

In the Amgen–Kite deal, Amgen contributed targets and agreed to pay $60 million upfront to fund the research and development of CAR–T cell therapies through to IND application. Each company will then be responsible for the clinical development of their respective CAR–T cell programmes, and each will be eligible for up to $525 million in milestone payments from the partner. Kite has two CAR–T cell therapies — targeting variant III epidermal growth factor (EGFRvIII) and CD19 — that are in Phase I/II trials.

Pfizer has also partnered with Cellectis to work together on the preclinical development of CAR–T cell treatments. It paid $80 million upfront, and committed milestones of up to $185 million for each of 15 projects. GSK has partnered with AdaptImmune to preclinically co-develop a related approach, modifying T cells with enhanced T cell receptors (TCRs) to home in on the cancer-testis antigen NY-ESO-1 and other targets. GSK could pay up to $350 million over 7 years through this deal.

Separately, Juno and Novartis settled a patent litigation case that had been ongoing since 2012. The patent dispute started between St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and the University of Pennsylvania, but broadened to include Juno when the company partnered with St Jude, and to involve Novartis when Novartis partnered with the University of Pennsylvania. Under the agreement, Novartis will pay Juno $12.25 million upfront, plus future milestones and royalties for products related to the disputed patent. Juno's and Novartis' lead CAR–T cell treatments both target CD19, and are in Phase I/II and Phase II development, respectively, for haematologic cancers.