by Natalie Morrison
LONDON, 1 Feb (APM) - Celgene remains “open for business” in terms of dealmaking as it goes through the stages of being acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb, said chief financial officer David Elkins.
Elkins was speaking on the firm’s fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday, just a few weeks after BMS’ record-breaking $74 billion acquisition of Celgene was announced on 3 January (APMMA 61277).
Since the announcement, Celgene has continued to sign its own partnership deals, however, over immuno-oncology treatments with Kyn Therapeutics, CAR-T developer Obsidian (APMMA 61499) and with Triphase Accelerator, over its preclinical blood cancer candidate TRPH-395.
“These are expansions of our efforts to look at protein degradation, to look at controllable CAR-T function, and mitigating certain side effects,” said chief executive officer Mark Alles, according to Seeking Alpha’s transcript of Thursday’s call.
Asked about the strategy for dealmaking before the BMS deal completes, Elkins replied: “We are going to continue to follow the science, continue working with our collaborators, and we will do that in consultation with BMS as well. So, for everyone out there, very much we remain open.”
Underappreciated
The executives were also quizzed over high-level ‘nervousness’ among investors about the BMS transaction.Alles aired his enthusiasm for the deal in response, and said he believes some aspects have been “underappreciated”, including the “scientific prowess of both companies and how, when they come together, we enhance our opportunity to accelerate research and development unlike we think either company alone could do”.
“I think, on the cultural side, there is also an underestimation about how these companies come together in such a complementary way, where the mission, the purpose, is quite unique, but at the same time, it overlaps beautifully. So, I think this is a deal that investors weren't expecting. I think investors will get very comfortable with it over time,” he said.
It is hoped the transaction will close “sooner rather than later”, he added.
CAR-T future
BMS’ chief executive Giovanni Caforio recently said the combined Celgene-BMS firm will have the leading cell therapy franchise (APMMA 61340).Analysts also asked about a growing interest in the CAR-T field for allogeneic therapies - those made from donor cells as opposed to the current therapies which are autologous, in other words made from patients’ own cells.
Celgene’s global head of research and early development Rupert Vessey echoed the widely-held industry view that while donor-derived therapies are an interesting prospect - one which could solve some of the manufacturing complexities - there remain a number of hurdles to overcome to make CAR-Ts allogeneic.
These include extensive strategies so that the CAR-T is not detrimental to the patient and “the patients’ immune system does not attack the CAR-T,” he said. Autologous therapies are widely recognised as safer and more easily recognisable by the immune system, since they are from the same body.
Vessey added that Celgene understands there are still many manufacturing improvements which can be applied for autologous CAR-T over time, which could “close the gap” between the two processes.
“That doesn't mean, though, that we are not really well aware of the 'allo' approach. And we have an allo strategy that we are putting in place, including some agreements that we already have that are in the public domain. So we are on top of that as well as it emerges,” he said.
nm/clg
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